Electrical shop gutted; goods worth Rs 35 lakh destroyed

Hoshiarpur, May 3

A fire broke out in a shop selling electrical goods near the BSNL Telephone Exchange located on Mastiwal Road in the town on late Monday night. All goods lying in it were burnt to ashes.

The shop owners reportedly suffered a loss of Rs 35-40 lakh. The incident came to light when police personnel saw the flames while patrolling at night. The police informed the shop owners about the fire in the shop.

Seeing the fire escalating rapidly, the Fire Brigade was immediately informed by the police and it reached the spot before the shop owner arrived. If the police had not called the Fire Brigade in time, even nearby shops could have been engulfed by fire.

Shop owners Sarvjit Singh and Harish Dhingra said as usual they had left for home last night after closing the shop. Around 2 am, some police personnel on patrol saw smoke coming out of their shop and they immediately informed them about the fire.

They said the police had called the Fire Brigade even before they reached the shop. Firefighters mounting a fire tender reached the spot on time and brought the fire under control. By the time, the entire stock of electrical items in the shop had burnt to ashes. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.