Charminar Police file case in Gulzar Houz fire after victim’s kin seek investigation
Hyderabad: Police have registered a case following a major fire that killed 17 people at a residence above a jewellery shop in the Charminar area. The incident occurred early Sunday morning, May 18, 2025, at Gulzar Houz, Charkaman, and also destroyed two shops on the ground floor, namely Modi Pearls and Krishna Pearls & Jewellers.
The case was filed at Charminar Police Station based on a complaint by Utkarsh Modi, a 28-year-old businessman and resident of Charminar. According to the complaint, around 6:45 a.m., Utkarsh’s father, Vinod Modi, received a phone call from a relative informing him about a fire at their family residence located above the Modi Pearls shop. Utkarsh and his father rushed to the location and found the building engulfed in flames. Emergency services, including the Fire Department, local police, and ambulances, were already on the scene, attempting to control the blaze and evacuate those trapped inside.
Seventeen members of the extended Modi and Jain families were inside the building at the time. They were shifted to various hospitals including Yashoda Hospitals (Malakpet), Apollo Hospitals (Hyderguda and DRDO), Care Hospitals (Nampally), and Osmania General Hospital. However, doctors confirmed that all 17 had died.
The deceased were identified as Rajini Agarwal (47), Pankaj Modi (35), Varsha Modi (35), Aanya Modi, Idhika Modi, Iraaj Modi (2), Rishab Jain (13), Abhishek Modi, Arushi Jain (17), Sheetal Jain (37), Harshali Gupta (7), Rajender Kumar (67), Sumitra Modi (65), Prahalad Rai Modi (73), Munni Bai Modi (72), Pratham Agarwal (14), and Pranshi Agarwal (6). All bodies were later shifted to Osmania General Hospital for post-mortem examination.
In his complaint, Utkarsh Modi requested a thorough investigation into the cause of the fire and appropriate legal action. Based on the complaint, Inspector K. Chandra Sekhar, Station House Officer of Charminar Police Station, registered a case. Police have begun an investigation into the incident.
