Even hours after the fire was extinguished, the smell of burnt wiring and smoke still lingered outside the Hauz Khas residence.
Neighbours stood quietly near the house. Police moved in and out. Inside the blackened home, investigators searched for answers.
But the most devastating account came not from officials — it came from someone who had been closely watching the family unravel through the night.
Speaking exclusively to News X, family manager Abhishek Ranjan described the final hours before former IAS officer and ex-CCI Chairman Dhanendra Kumar succumbed to smoke inhalation after a suspected AC blast triggered a massive fire inside the house.
“Everything happened very suddenly,” Ranjan said. “The indoor AC unit caught fire and within minutes the smoke spread everywhere.”
According to him, Kumar’s son attempted to control the blaze himself before emergency responders could fully intervene.
“He was trying to save everyone inside,” Ranjan said. “He helped douse the fire. Because of that, his lungs were badly affected by the smoke.”
The son is currently admitted to AIIMS Trauma Centre and remains in stable condition.
Ranjan also raised serious concerns over the emergency response timeline.
“DFS reached after around 50 to 55 minutes,” he alleged. “By that time, the family and staff had already managed to bring people out.”
Delhi Fire Services has confirmed receiving a distress call from the Hauz Khas residence late on May 27 and stated that fire tenders were dispatched immediately. Officials said the blaze was brought under control shortly after midnight.
But amid the investigation and official procedures, one deeply personal detail now hangs over the family.
“The wife of Dhanendra Kumar ji still does not know that he has passed away,” Ranjan revealed softly. “The family decided they will tell her only after their daughter arrives from the United States.”
That moment, relatives say, is expected later tonight.
A 1968-batch IAS officer, Kumar served in several key ministries before becoming the first Chairman of the Competition Commission of India, where he helped shape India’s modern competition law framework.
Yet on Thursday, outside the charred Hauz Khas residence, public legacy and official titles felt secondary.
What remained was a grieving family, a house filled with smoke — and a night that turned fatal far too quickly.
