House gutted in mysterious blaze in Bhaderwah

Bhaderwah, July 19: A residential house of a tribal Gujjar family gutted in a mysterious fire at Bhooru village of Bhaderwah today.

Officials said that house of Abdul Gani caught fire mysteriously, when the entire family was at Jaie Ghati with their cattle for summer grazing.

After the villagers raised an alarm, the fire tenders were rushed from Bhaderwah but it took nearly one hour to start them the operation. Till then entire structure and belongings turned into ashes.

Abdul Gani and his family who were at Jaie came to know about the incident in the afternoon as there is no mobile network at Jaie.

Alleging some foul play by the miscreants, Abdul Gani said, "Electricity supply has been disconnected three months back and the house was locked for 15 days. So there is no chance of short circuit or catching fire due to cooking of food. Someone has deliberately set our house ablaze."

Family pleaded for help as they are left with no shelter and nothing to start their life a-new.

Meanwhile District administration has assured immediate help from Red Cross society and SDRF.

Rashtriya Rifles unit based at Bhadarwah and 159 Dogra of territorial Army has also extended help to the tribal family.

Meanwhile police is collecting the evidence and has started investigation into the matter.