Several shops gutted in fire in Bellthangady

Beltangady: Tension gripped Belthangady as Some shops were torched by unidentified miscreants in  Santhekatte and Church Road here on the night of Friday January 16.

'Kudradka Enterprises' on Church Road owned by Abdul Khader was set on fire on the late night of Friday. The items inside the shop were charred in the incident.

As many as three shops in a commercial complex were gutted in the fire. While one of the shops dealing in stationery items got almost entirely gutted down, two adjacent shops were partially burnt. Pushpavati, owner of the stationery shop, estimated that the fire which started at around 1.15 am on Saturday, caused her loss to the tune of eight lac rupees. An adjacent shop owned by Qasim dealing in areca nut, and a studio owned by Subodh Jain, suffered partial losses.

Some Sabarimala pilgrims noticed the fire and alerted policemen on night beat. Two fire brigade vehicles reached the spot and succeeded in extinguishing fire. Local assistant superintendent of police, Rahul Kumar, was seen personally shifting goods to avoid them from getting burnt down. The policemen thereafter kept close watch all over the town the entire night to ensure that no untoward incidents occur as a result of these incidents.