3 members of Indo-Canadian family charred to death in ‘suspicious’ blaze

Toronto: Police have not ruled out the possibility of murder in the deaths in a residential blazethat claimed the lives of three members of an Indo-Canadian family in the town of Brampton in the Greater Toronto Area earlier this month.

In a release on Friday, Peel Regional Police (PRP) identified the victims as 51-year-old Rajiv Warikoo, his wife Shilpa Kotha, 47, and their 16-year-old daughter Mahek.

Significantly, the release stated that “circumstances surrounding the house fire remains the focus of an active investigation, and anyone with information or video footage (dashcam or otherwise) is urged to contact homicide detectives”.

The news outlet CP24 cited PRP constable Taryn Young as saying, “At this time we are investigating this with our homicide bureau and we are deeming this as suspicious as the Ontario Fire Marshal has deemed that this fire was not accidental.”

The deaths in the fire, which occurred in the middle of the afternoon, at approximately 1.30pm, on March 7, have shocked the Indo-Canadian community. “Shocking, this sort of incident is unprecedented,” said Vidya Dhar, who knew Warikoo well as the deceased was active in the “close-knit Kashmiri community”.

Warikoo was with Ontario’s Ministry of Health, but had previously been in law enforcement earlier, friends said. Shilpa Warikoo, Dhar said, was employed in the IT sector. Mahek, who turned 16 in September, was considered a football player of potential.

Footage of the blaze aired by the outlet CTV News showed the home engulfed by flames even before fire service personnel could arrive at the site.

Following the initial efforts of first responders to put the fire out, the fire Marshall’s office was called in to help determine the cause of the fire, the release stated. “While examining the scene, investigators made an unfortunate discovery when they located what was believed to be human remains within the destroyed house,” it added.

Detectives from the PRP’s Homicide Bureau have been working closely with the Office of the Chief Coroner, according to the release.