Dumka: Eighteen dozen shops were gutted in a fire which broke out at the vegetable market in Tinpahar Bazaar in Sahibganj district on Monday. Goods worth lakhs of rupees were reduced to ashes as two fire engines fought for several hours to douse the flames.Eyewitnesses informed the police that the fire broke out first in a shop around 3:30 am and quickly engulfed the establishments near it. Locals reached the market after an announcement was made from a nearby mosque and tried to douse the flames, but failed.A police team from Tinpahar police station led by the officer in-charge (OC) Mritunjay Kumar Pandey rushed to the site upon receiving the information as fire brigade teams were immediately alerted..By the time the fire was fully extinguished, around 18 shops, including sweet shops, tea stalls, snack outlets, cycle stores, general stores, vegetable and fruit vendors—had been reduced to ashes. The incident caused significant losses, with around a dozen shops completely gutted, leaving affected shopkeepers devastated.“The reason of the fire is not known as yet as the loss of the property is being assessed,” Pandey said, adding that further investigation is underway.
