Keonjhar: Many confiscated vehicles and seized items were reduced to ashes in a massive fire that broke out late Tuesday night on the premises of the Barbil Excise office in this district. Officials said among the vehicles that were gutted were one Scorpio and two Bolero SUVs, one auto-rickshaw, and 11 two-wheelers. Many valuable documents and other seized articles were razed to ashes in the blaze that occurred at the office located on Kiriburu road.
On receiving information, fire brigade teams rushed to the spot and doused the flames. Though the actual cause of the fire is not yet clear, suspicion remains that some miscreants might have done it and it will come to light only after police investigation, sources said. “Santosh Behera, an employee of the office, noticed the fire and informed me late in the night. Immediately I contacted the fire brigade officials. The cause of the fire is not yet clear. However, most of the important documents are safe. The cause behind the fire will be clear after investigation,” said Janardan Palei, officer in charge of the local police station here.