Chatra (Jharkhand), Apr 6 (PTI) A 90-year-old man was burnt to death, and a minor girl was seriously injured in a fire that broke out in two shops in Chatra district in the early hours of Wednesday, police said.
The incident took place in the Gudri Bazar area of the district, and an electrical short circuit could have caused the fire, a police officer said.
A firefighting team and locals brought the fire under control after six hours, the police officer said.
The shop owners, Santan Keshri and Ashok Keshri, said their family resides on the top floor of the two-storied building, and all of them somehow managed to escape to the adjacent house from the rooftop after the fire broke out at around 3 am.
According to them, their 90-year-old father, Mahadeo Sao, and their 5-year-old niece were asleep in a room on the ground floor, from where the fire broke out.
While the old man was burnt to death, the girl was seriously injured, the police officer said.
The girl was taken to a nearby hospital, where doctors referred her to a medical facility in Hazaribag district.
The family has three shops on the ground floor, including a grocery store.
The Superintendent of Police of the district, Rakesh Ranjan, the Sub-Divisional Officer, Chatra, Md Mumtaz Ansari, and the Sub-divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Chatra, Avinash Kumar, went to the spot for investigating the matter.
The Keshri family claimed that property worth Rs 1 crore, including Rs 3 lakh in cash, kept in the store, was gutted. PTI COR BS SBN MM MM
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Source: The Print
