Visakhapatnam: Two persons, including a seven-year-old boy, were suspected to have died of asphyxiation in sleep after lighting fire in their room to beat the cold. The incident took place on Saturday night in the abandoned forest quarters in Araku valley of Alluri Sitarama Raju (ASR) district.
Inspector of Araku valley police station, L Himagiri, said that the deceased were identified as Korra Chintamma (50) and her grandson Korra Nani (7). The duo fell asleep after lighting fire in a portable fire pan (kumpati in local parlance) in their room at night to protect themselves from the cold, and were found dead on Sunday morning, he added.
The police said Korra Balaram, a native of Sovva locality in Dumbriguda mandal, along with his family (three children, wife, and mother) has been residing in the old forest quarters in Araku valley for the past five years. Balaram is a plumber by profession.
On Saturday, four of the family slept in the hall of the quarters while chintamma and Nani slept in another room. As the room was completely closed, both of them suffocated to death. The police have registered a case and shifted the bodies to a hospital for postmortem.
