The special police team investigating the secretariat fire accident will submit scientific evidence collected from the site to the court on Thursday. The evidence will then be sent to the forensic lab for testing. The investigators are expected to collect more statements from witnesses during the day.
Police have so far recorded the statement of an employee of the Water Resources Minister's office, who first witnessed the fire. The police are also expected to review CCTV footage. A full report on the incident will be filed once the lab results are out, reported Asianet News.
The fire was reported on Tuesday in the general administration department (political section) in the north block of the secretariat.
The preliminary investigations, which were carried out by both the police and the Disaster Management Authority, hinted that a faulty wall mounted fan was the cause of the fire, reported Times of India.
The police team is led by SP (Special Cell) V Ajith under the direct supervision of Additional DGP (administration) Manoj Abraham. Another team headed by Disaster Management commissioner A Kowsigan was appointed by the Chief secretary Vishwas Mehta.
The newspaper citing sources reported that officials in the section had informed the maintenance division about the faulty fan which was repaired on Friday. However, the fan did not function properly despite the repair and the electric switch of the fan was left in the 'ON' position which could be the reason for the fire.
The electric wire of the fan got burnt and the fan fell down spreading the fire to the files. The State Additional Protocol Officer AP Rajeevan had filed a police complaint with the cantonment police station. The files destroyed pertain to past allotment of accommodation in government guest houses.
Meanwhile, the Congress-led UDF and the BJP - on Wednesday demanded an NIA (National Investigation Agency) probe into the fire at the Secretariat.
Across the state, angry activists of these political fronts took to the streets and clashed with police on Wednesday as they were demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
State Congress president Mullapally Ramachandran said the fire in the Secretariat is suspicious as crucial files pertaining to the travel of Pinarayi and his key confidantes are all kept there.
"The fire conspiracy is baffling and mysterious and only an NIA probe will bring out the truth as they already are probing the gold smuggling case. The CBI also should be roped in as a joint probe would bring out the truth. Do not know why Vijayan is silent. He is fearing something," said Ramachandran.
"Everything is suspicious and fail to understand why the Chief Secretary wore the cap of a security officer when the fire took place," added Ramachandran.
Senior Lok Sabha member N K Premachandran said that he has written to the Prime Minister and others in Delhi for effective intervention in investigating the truth in the fire episode.
State BJP president K Surendran, who was one of the first to reach the Secretariat after hearing of the fire and was forcibly taken into custody by the police, said that last month the GAD (General Administration Department) had come out with a circular to be careful of fires and that is exactly what followed.
Meanwhile, the Kerala Police has registered a case against Surendran and eight other BJP workers for criminal trespass into the Secretariat.