Computers worth Rs2.5 crore destroyed in Sunday night fire

Suspected electrical short-circuit sparked a fire at a computer peripheral supplier’s shop at OTC Road Cross in Nagarthpet on Sunday night. Eight fire tenders battled for about two hours to douse the blaze. Initial estimates pegged the loss at Rs2.5 crore. Though firefighters were suspecting electrical short-circuit, a shopkeeper adjacent to the Megabytes which caught fire, said he had seen a man fleeing the shop. The shopkeeper, Dileep, said he was suspecting sabotage. He added that he found the shutter of the shop was partially opened. Mahindra Jain, the owner of Megabytes, said he was not sure about the cause of the fire. “I am not sure whether it was accidental or deliberate. I received a call around 9.45pm from a neighbouring shop owner, informing me of the fire. I immediately rushed to the my shop,” Jain said. Dileep’s son Rajiv noticed the fire around 9.30pm and alerted his father, who in turn, informed the fire and emergency services department. Firefighters had a tough time controlling the blaze as the shop had stored inflammable materials. Thick smoke initially prevented the firefighters from entering the shop. The narrow lane in front of the shop was yet another problem that the firemen encountered. Only two fire tenders were able to operate simultaneously. Fire tenders made multiple trips to fill water. Police, meanwhile, cordoned off the area to help firefighters battle the blaze. People rushed to the lane on hearing about the fire. Their intention was to help control the blaze, but inadvertently caused more trouble to the police and firefighters. Sameer, a worker of Megabytes, said most of the damage was caused when firefighters threw computers down from the shop located on the first floor. Jain said he was yet to file a police complaint.
Megabytes was supplying computer peripherals to several shops in the city.