The people who died in the fire were Rajiv Warikoo, aged 51, his wife Shilpa Kotha, aged 47, and their daughter Mahek Warikoo, aged 16.
New Delhi: A family from India living in Canada lost their lives in a strange fire at their home in Ontario. The police mentioned the event happened on March 7th, and the bodies were identified yesterday because they were badly burnt.
Rajiv Warikoo, aged 51, along with his wife Shilpa Kotha, aged 47, and their daughter Mahek Warikoo, who was 16 years old. They were discovered dead in their house located at Big Sky Way and Van Kirk Drive.
The police initially thought the fire at the house was just an accident. But after looking into it more, they’re now saying it might not have been an accident. Constable Taryn Young from Peel Police called the fire “suspicious” and said they’re going through all the evidence to figure out what really happened.
“We’re looking into this with our homicide team, and we’re considering it suspicious because the Ontario Fire Marshal has confirmed the fire wasn’t accidental,” Mr. Young said in an interview with CTV news channel.
A fire happened at a house near Big Sky Way and Van Kirk Drive in Brampton on March 7, according to a statement from Peel Police.
People who were there said they heard a loud bang before the fire started at the house. Kenneth Yousaf, a neighbor of the family who died, talked about how frightening it was to see the house completely on fire.
Yousaf mentioned he found out about the fire last week from a family member who heard a loud noise. “When we came out, the house was already on fire. It’s really sad. In just a few hours, everything was destroyed,” Yousaf told CTV.
Once the fire was extinguished, police found what they thought were human remains in the burned house. However, they couldn’t confirm the exact number of people who had died at that time.
“While looking around the area, investigators found what seemed to be human remains in the ruined house,” police said in a statement.
The Peel Police statement mentioned that detectives from their Homicide Bureau, along with the Chief Coroner’s Office, have confirmed the identities of the remains. They belong to Rajiv Warikoo, aged 51, Shilpa Kotha, aged 47, and Mahek Warikoo, aged 16. All three lived at the house before the fire.
Rajiv Warikoo had volunteered with the Toronto Police, and his service ended in 2016.
Mahek Warikoo, a talented teenager who played football, was remembered by her coach as outstanding on the field. Her coach believed she had the potential to earn scholarships at top universities in North America.
Cops say investigation into the deaths is still on and urged anyone with information to come forward.
“The police are still looking into what happened with the house fire, and they’re asking anyone who has information or video recordings (like dashcam footage) to get in touch with the detectives investigating the case,” according to police.
