Fire does not spare anyone. Nor does it respect age. A 93-year-old retired central government official, Nanigopal Das, and his 86-year-old wife, Tripti Rani, were charred to death when a fire broke out at their two-storey house in Nimta, north Dum Dum, early on Thursday. Nanigopal, a former auditor general under central govt, and Tripti lived alone at their home in Lichu Bagan. Their son, Subrata Das, along with his family, lives in Nagpur.

Police said the fire completely destroyed the couple’s first-floor bedroom and two other rooms. Three fire engines were deployed and firefighters broke the windowpanes to enter the house. But by the time the couple’s bodies were recovered, they were severely burnt. Police suspect a short circuit, caused by a mechanical fault in the AC, had caused the fire that engulfed the sleeping duo. “Severely charred remains of two bodies were recovered from the house. Preliminary investigation suggests a short circuit caused the fire. Two cases of unnatural death are registered,” a Barrackpore Police Commissionerate officer said.