Delhi: 300 vehicles gutted in fire at Wazirabad police malkhana

This was the second time the malkhana (space where seized vehicles were kept) caught fire, with the first instance reported in January.

A major fire broke out at the Wazirabad police training centre malkhana (space where seized vehicles were kept) on Thursday afternoon, gutting 125 four-wheelers and 175 two-wheelers, but there was no injury in the incident, fire department officials said. The fire was put out after a four-hour operation.

Vehicles on fire at the police training centre. (ANI)

This was the second time the malkhana caught fire, with the first instance reported in January.

Police said the malkhana was under the Sonia Vihar police station’s jurisdiction in northeast Delhi, and case properties of all police stations located close by were brought here due to paucity of space. “That’s the reason the malkhana had hundreds of vehicles. About 125 four-wheelers and 175 two-wheelers got burnt in the fire. They were all case properties of west district,” a police officer, requesting anonymity, said.

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The officer said the exact numbers will be ascertained in due course.

Fire department officials said the blaze was reported at 2.37pm, following which 10 fire tenders were deployed and the fire was doused by 6.25pm.

Fire department officials said that while they did not receive calls about any other major fire, they were getting frequent calls about short circuit in electricity poles and fire in waste dumps.

In the January incident, about 300 vehicles that were case property of outer district police were gutted. A case was also registered.