3 houses, 7 shops gutted in Doda

Our Correspondent

Doda, January 12

Three residential buildings and seven shops were gutted in a major blaze in the Kahara area of Doda district on Saturday. The incident took place around 4 am.

Teams of the police and Sashastra Seema Bal and locals carried out a rescue operation and saved the residents.

Station House Officer, Gandoh police station, Sajid Mughal said: “Three houses and seven shops were gutted in a massive fire incident at Kahara. Fortunately, there was no loss of life but property worth Rs 50-Rs 60 lakh was reduced to ashes.”

“We carried out the along with locals and were later joined by the Sashastra Seema Bal and fire brigade teams, but the fire was devastating and it reduced the wooden structures to ashes,” Mughal said.

Later, locals held a protest and blocked the Gandoh-Thathri road for around four hours, demanding fire tender service for Kahara and a high-level probe into the incident.

“There have been constant fire incidents in the Kahara, Gandoh and Bhallessa areas in the past few years. We want a high-level probe into the incidents,” said Asif Iqbal, a local.