Police await post-mortem report

Mysore/Mysuru: Four people, including three women, died of asphyxiation due to an LPG cylinder leak at their home in Yaraganahalli on Monday night, Police said.

A team from Alanahalli Police Station, along with Crime Scene Officers, rushed to the spot after learning about the incident this morning. It has not yet been confirmed whether the deaths were accidental or intentional. 

Initial investigations suggest that carbon monoxide leaked from the LPG cylinder, causing the deaths. Carbon monoxide is odourless, colourless and tasteless, so a leak may go unnoticed until it’s too late. Inhaling carbon monoxide can result in serious illness, loss of consciousness and eventual death if there is no urgent medical intervention.

It was a poorly ventilated small house at Yaraganahalli on Dr. Rajkumar Road where the family lived and the head of the family, from the Madivala Shetty community, eked out a living by washing and ironing clothes.

The deceased have been identified as Kumar (45), his wife Manjula (39) and daughters Archana, an M.Com student at Teresian College and Swathi, a B.Com student at Vani Vilas Urs College at Nazarbad. Kumar hails from Sakharayapatna in the Chikkamagalur district. 

Wedding ceremony

Police and neighbours said that the family had attended a wedding in Sakharayapatna last week and returned to Mysuru on Sunday. The deaths likely occurred on Monday night, as neighbours noticed no activity next door yesterday.

Police said that as usual, the family had dinner and slept on Monday night as was evident by looking at the utensils. The incident came to light when Kumar’s relative, Bharath, visited their house this morning after the family had been incommunicado for the last two days. When there was no response at the door, Bharath peeped through the window and saw the bodies lying on the floor. He immediately alerted the neighbours and called the Police. Neighbours reported that they could smell gas from the windows.

The family migrated to Mysuru 30 years ago and Kumar and Manjula were involved in cleaning and ironing clothes.

Police said that Kumar used an LPG cylinder to iron clothes. The Police are yet to ascertain whether the leak occurred in the LPG cylinder connected to the cooking stove or the LPG iron system.

Forensic Team mahazar

City Police Commissioner Ramesh Banoth, DCP (Law and Order) M. Muthuraj and other officers visited the scene. The Dog Squad, Fingerprint Experts, and Forensic Team were summoned for the investigation. The bodies have been shifted to JSS Medical College mortuary for the post-mortem.

Dr. Smitharani from JSS Medical College is conducting the autopsy.

A case has been registered at the Alanahalli Police Station. Since the Alanahalli Inspector is part of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to investigate the Hassan Sex Scandal involving MP Prajwal Revanna, the investigation and legal processes will be supervised by Nazarbad Inspector Mahadevaswamy.