Fire in I-T building housing 2G papers

A fire broke out on Thursday in the income tax (I-T) department's building at Jhandewalan Extension that houses its investigation and intelligence wings, which are probing the 2G spectrum scam.

A fire broke out on Thursday in the income tax (I-T) department's building at Jhandewalan Extension that houses its investigation and intelligence wings, which are probing the 2G spectrum scam.

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The building houses the offices of the directors-general of investigation and intelligence.

Sources said the building's owner was on the Central Bureau of Investigation's list of witnesses in the 2G spectrum scam.

"The documents and records related to the 2G scam are also in this office," the source said.

An official, who did not want to be named, however, said: "There has been no damage to our documents and records. Moreover, there are back-ups of important documents."

The building also houses the I-T search assessment office and the main server-cum-centralised database centre - containing classified documents and records, and internal database.

The moment the fire broke out on the second floor of the building - where the office of the director of I-T (investigation) is situated - and smoke started coming out, staff members and neighbours raised an alarm.

While all the occupants of the building came out on the road, four fire tenders worked at full force to put the fire out.

I-T department staffers said they suddenly saw smoke coming out of the second floor and after rushing there, found a fire in the conference room.

"It was a minor fire, caused by a short circuit. The false ceiling of the conference room on the second floor caught fire, but everything is under control. No damage of any kind has been reported," the official spokesperson of the Central Board of Direct Taxes told HT.

In 2007, the I-T office in Mayur Bhawan in Connaught Place had caught fire, in which many important documents were reported to have been damaged or destroyed.