8-year-old TV actor Veer Sharma, brother die in apartment fire in Rajasthan's Kota

Eight-year-old television actor Veer Sharma, known for his role as Pushkal in Sony SAB’s Shrimad Ramayan, and his 16-year-old brother Shoriya Sharma, an aspiring engineer, allegedly died of suffocation after a fire broke out at their home in Kota, Rajasthan.

Police said the siblings were alone at home when the fire erupted around 2 am on Sunday. Their father, Jitendra Sharma, a coaching centre teacher, was attending a bhajan event, while their mother, actor Rita Sharma, was in Mumbai at the time.

Firefighters rushed to the scene and doused the flames, but could not save the children.

Kota SP Tejeshwani Goutam, who inspected the scene on Sunday morning, said a short circuit is suspected to have triggered the blaze. The



fire broke out in the drawing room, and the children, who were asleep, most likely succumbed to smoke inhalation, as the flames did not spread to other rooms.

Circle Inspector Bhupendra Singh said the incident occurred in a flat on the fourth floor of Deepshree Building, under the jurisdiction of Anantpura police station. Neighbours, noticing smoke billowing from the flat, broke open the door and found the children unconscious. They immediately alerted the father and rushed the boys to the hospital, where they were declared dead.

One neighbour said they managed to extinguish the fire using the building’s fire extinguishers, and no fire tender was called. Police said the drawing room was completely charred, with the furniture reduced to ashes.