Aurangabad: A truck driver from Jalgaon was charred to death after the vehicle’s cabin mysteriously caught fire at the Waluj terminus in the wee hours of Friday.The deceased, Shivaji Shantaram Kakde (50), was sleeping when the incident happened, said police.Ironically, Kakde had come to the city from Jalgaon in search of a job and it would be his first day on duty on the six-wheeled container.Although police are yet to ascertain the exact cause of the fire, they suspect sparks from a mosquito repellent which the driver may have lit in the cabin may have caused the blaze.According to police, Ankush Shelke, the permanent driver of the ill-fated container, had appointed Kakde as an alternate driver on Thursday and handed over the keys to him before leaving for is home town in Kannad taluka.The incident came to light at around 2 am, when another driver, Dheeraj Singh, woke up to answer nature’s call. Soon after receiving information, police and fire brigade personnel reached the spot, but it was too late.Senior inspector Dnyaneshwar Sable of MIDC Waluj police station said that by the time the fire was doused, the driver was completely charred. However, the firebrigade personnel prevented the fire from spreading to 50 heavy vehicles parked in the terminus, he added.“The smoke in the cabin due to the fire might have made the driver unconscious, making it impossible for him to escape,” he said.Drivers of other trucks parked at the terminus said there are many mosquitoes in the area, due to which almost all the drivers who sleep in the cabins of their vehicles light mosquito repellent coils.Police have registered a case of accidental death and launched a probe into the incident.The owner of the truck, Santosh Wankhede, has claimed that he was not aware of Kakde’s appointment as an alternative driver by Shelke.

Stay updated with all the Latest Aurangabad headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.