Garment showroom gutted
MARGAO, APRIL 19
Baffled over the repeated fires engulfing these establishments, the fire services have sought the assistance of the Margao police to investigate whether the fires have been caused by sabotage, arson or otherwise.
If the Ambica fast foot outlet and two kiosks were gutted in a raging fire twice within the last two months causing destruction of property worth lakhs of rupees, last night’s fire to the garment showroom Nizam’s shoppe has left the fire services completely baffled.
Nizam’s shoppe was in the news earlier this month after the establishment caught fire, causing a loss of around Rs 3 lakh. Last night, the Margao fire brigade rushed to the establishment after receiving a call that the showroom has been engulfed by fire.
Says Assistant Fire Divisional officer, Prakash Parab: “The Fire services have written to the Margao police to investigate into these two separate fire accidents. It is indeed surprising that the fire twice broke out in these two establishments within a short span of time”.
Parab said the police have till date not received any conclusive report from the police on the exact nature of the fire accident at the Ambica shop and at Nizam’s shoppe. “We are still awaiting the report from the police to initiate further action’, he said.
In the instant case, the fire services have maintained that not much damage has been caused to Nizam’s shoppe after last night’s incident. The owner, however, has maintained that a composite panel, besides two air conditioners were gutted in the fire.
The owner of the shop has told the fire services this morning that rough estimates suggest a loss of Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh caused to the establishment.
Co-incidentally, the two fire incident concerning Nizam’s shoppe has come on a Sunday at exactly at 11.45 pm, raising suspicion the minds of the owner as well as the fire services over the cause behind the fire.
Meanwhile, the fire services have maintained that the Margao police has not submitted the report on the cause of fire to the stationary shop-cum-transport office housed in a 19th century building that was engulfed by fire last Wednesday.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
Hotel employee detained
The Margao police on late Monday evening detained a hotel employee as a suspect in the fire incidents in the Commercial capital.
The middle-aged person, a native of Mumbai, has been working in a local hotel, was picked up for interrogations, after a CCTV footage showed his alleged presence outside a shop which caught fire in the market area.
Margao PI Santosh Desai said preliminary interrogations revealed that the employee might have been involved in the fire accidents, but added that the facts would come out after detailed investigations.
The employee appears not in his proper frame of mind. He will be referred for medical examination to ascertain his mental health, PI Desai added.
The Commercial capital had been in the news in recent times following the spate of fire incidents, causing destruction of property worth lakhs of rupees. In most of the cases, the fire services were left baffled over the exact cause behind the fire.
