TURA, April 12: A fire broke out in the dead of the night on Monday inside a sub-post office in Tura Dakopgre, causing damage to the place. However, police have ruled out any arson and maintained that the blaze was a result of an unattended battery device, which was put on charge.
The sub-post office is located next to the Social Mobilization Experimentation & Learning Centre (SMELC) training centre and close to the CRPF office in Dakopgre.
“We received an alert that a fire broke out inside the sub-post office at 2 am and our sector officer and his team, who were on patrolling, rushed to the site. It was found that the fire had started from inside,” said West Garo Hills Superintendent of Police, MGR Kumar.
Albeit the fire tenders were able to douse blaze immediately, extensive damage was caused to the files, electrical equipment and the wooden structure of the house that served as the sub-post office.
An investigation by the Fire department teams and Power department units indicated that the blaze was caused by a high-powered battery device which was left charging the whole night.
According to postal officials, the device, which was left on charge, should have been disconnected after office hours.
“There is no sign of any arson or forced entry and all indications are on the unattended battery. However, we have registered an FIR,” said the SP.
Given the location of the post office at a highly secured zone in Dakopgre., which is surrounded by government offices and paramilitary unit set-up, authorities have dismissed talks of any deliberate attack connected to the GHADC elections.
With no untoward incident being reported during the elections or in the run-up, authorities are terming it an accidental fire caused by laxity on the part of those manning the sub-post office.
