Massive fire at Kotwali police station, vehicles damaged

The state capital’s Kotwali police station caught fire under mysterious circumstances on Thursday evening, leaving behind a trail of destruction. Nearly half a dozen

The state capital’s Kotwali police station caught fire under mysterious circumstances on Thursday evening, leaving behind a trail of destruction. Nearly half a dozen vehicles parked on the police station campus were completely damaged. The fire caused panic among passersby and people working in nearby areas.

Fire at Kotwali police station in Patna on Thursday. (A P Dube)

However, no casualties were reported. The vehicles parked on the premises of the police station were the ones seized by the police for violation of traffic rules.

At least three fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the fire, said an officer attached to the fire and emergency services. It took nearly an hour to control the fire. Following the incident, vehicular traffic was disrupted between Dak Bungalow and IT roundabout for more than an hour.

“We think someone threw a beedi or a cigarette on the premises, which caused the fire. The fire spread suddenly,” said a police officer.

“After a few minutes, the fire spread and the vehicles caught fire. We tried to douse the fire but without much success. Finally, we had to call the fire brigade,” he said.

On the other hand, the SHO of Kotwali police station Ram Shankar Singh said only three vehicles were destroyed. He claimed preliminary reports point to short circuit in the electricity cable over the parking lot as the trigger for fire.