Man found charred to death in goods auto in Coimbatore, probe on

Coimbatore: An unidentified man was found charred to death inside a goods auto after it was engulfed in flames near Mettupalayam in Coimbatore district late on Saturday night.Police said a repaired goods auto owned by vegetable vendor Javid Ummar had been parked in an open space near a bakery on Ooty Road near Mettupalayam for the past three months. Homeless people and beggars in the area were using the vehicle as a shelter at night.On Saturday night, residents noticed the goods auto on fire and alerted the fire and rescue services. Firefighters rushed to the spot and extinguished the blaze. After the fire was put out, they found a man's charred body inside the cabin, and alerted Mettupalayam police.Police subsequently recovered the body and sent it to the Mettupalayam Government Hospital for a postmortem. Police suspect a mosquito coil kept inside the cabin may have caused the fire. "The man's identity is yet to be established. Locals said a man had been sleeping in the auto for the past couple of days," said a police officer. A case has been registered and an investigation is on.