SILCHAR, Nov 12 - Around 20 shops have been gutted in a major fire that broke out at Central Road on Wednesday night around 11pm during Diwali celebrations. The firefighters with as many as seven engines were kept busy till Thursday morning to bring the blaze under control.
According to preliminary estimates, the loss due to the fire could exceed Rs 1 crore.
Initially shops selling bed sheets, pillow covers, blankets and cosmetics caught fire and subsequently the fire spread rapidly, gutting several structures. A hotel located there was also badly affected by the fire. However, there has been no report of any casualty.
Even as the cause of the fire is yet to be known, onlookers said that the fire was caused by crackers. Some others said that it was a planned incident as there have been controversies over a land on which the shops were running.
ASP Subhashini Sankaran and ADC Baranya Das had rushed to the spot to take stock of the situation. SP Rajveer Singh said that an in-depth probe will be conducted to unearth the real cause of fire.
