Fire in BSP office; Party alleges conspiracy

Jammu, June 12: A major fire broke out in the office of Bahujan Samaj Party in Satwari area here today, gutting all the records and furnitures. The party has alleged that it was not an accidental fire and the office was burnt "under a conspiracy".

"We received a call at around 6 am in the morning and rushed to the spot. It was a major fire. The records kept in the office were gutted. Office furniture, including tables, fax machine, chairs etc... were also damaged in the fire," In-charge Fire Services office Gangyal, Manzoor Hussain Malik, said.

National General Secretary of BSP Narinder Kashyap claimed "somebody" knew that all records were kept in the office and the fire was part of a "conspiracy".

"It seems to be a deliberate attempt. Somebody knew that we were maintaining all the records at this office. We will lodge a formal complaint about the incident. We believe it is a conspiracy to destroy the records," Kashyap told reporters.

Police have registered a complaint and started a probe into the incident. "We have registered a case of fire and are investigating the reasons behind the incident," SHO Satwari Shabir Ahmed Khan said.

He, however, added that the fire might have erupted because of the short circuit. When asked about the party's concerns, Khan said: "They haven't named any suspect. We are investigating the case and if we find something fishy we will register an FIR in that regard also."

PTI