A day after a Maruti Suzuki Ignis caught fire inside the tunnel of Coastal Road, the fire department’s preliminary report stated that the customisation of the automobile’s horn may have sparked the incident.

Umesh Palande, divisional fire officer, south zone, told mid-day, “When we recorded the statement of the owner, Sudhir Nair, he explained that he had changed and customised the car’s horn. That raised suspicions, so we checked if there were possibilities of this being the cause of the fire. We learnt from experts that it is a possibility. As far as the primary investigation is concerned, what could have happened is that the wiring work done during the customisation must have been faulty, leading to damage. This might have impacted other wiring in the system, especially that related to petrol, which could have impacted the engine, resulting in the blaze.” While a complete investigation report will take at least five days, this was the primary suspicion shared by the fire department.