Just minutes before 17 members of the Modi family were killed in the massive fire that broke out at Gulzar Houz in Charminar, Hyderabad, they frantically called their close friend for help.
“I received a call from Pankaj (Modi) at 6.10 a.m. He was panicking and asked for help,” said Syed Iqbal, a bangle seller and the family’s close friend who has known them for more than two decades. “We are trapped here. There is no way to get out. Please help,” Pankaj cried on the other side of the line, Iqbal recalls, eyes tearing. The voice has been echoing in his head ever since.
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“I called the ambulance immediately. They came in about ten minutes. The fire tenders were there soon after. But by then, it was already too late. The thick black smoke and flames had engulfed the entire house,” said Iqbal recounts, his voice trembling.
The inferno had erupted in a residential building near Gulzar Houz, trapping the family. Among them, 36-year-old Pankaj, who had managed to step out of the burning home for a moment, to check if help had arrived. But the cries of his children, the thought of his wife still trapped inside, pulled him back in. He never came out again.
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Meanwhile, Dilbagh Singh, a frequent visitor to the family’s pearl shop, heard whispers of the incident. Anxious, he called Govinda, Pankaj’s elder brother.
The voice that answered was hollow. “Bhaiya chale gaye… behene bhi nahi rahin,” (My brother is no more, so are the sisters), Govinda said quietly. “I heard that and it was as if the ground trembled beneath me. Just the night before, the family met at a function. Govinda had asked the family to stay the night. But they had left around 11 p.m.,” Mr. Singh explained.
Published – May 18, 2025 03:51 pm IST
