15 shops gutted in Dharmapuri

Victims allege foul play by Gram Panchayat officials

The area has become a prime locality in the temple town with land cost enhancing number of times. According to locals, the land now costs around `16 crore per acre

Karimnagar: Around 15 shops were burnt to ashes under suspicious circumstances in Dharmapuri mandal headquarters late on Tuesday night. Though the reason for the fire accident is yet to be known, police suspected that flames might have accidentally erupted in a shop and spread to others.

Temporary shops that were established near bus stand area of the temple town went into flames after midnight. Locals soon alerted the police who rushed to the spot with fire tenders and contained the flames. While 15 shops were completely burnt, five were damaged partially.

Victims alleged that Gram Panchyat people set their shops on fire to shift them from the areas by creating terror, while others opined that fire crackers stored in a tiny shop could be the possible reason for fire accident.

It may be noted that, around 20 families had occupied the land in survey No 53 and were staying in the locality for the last 20 years by running petty businesses in temporary sheds.

As the area has become a prime locality in the temple town, the worth of the land enhanced number of times. According to locals, the land now costs around Rs 16 crore.

Recently, it stoked a controversy with Dharmapuri village Panchayat asking the local residents to vacate the place as it was belonging to Gram Panchayat. Refusing to vacate, residents approached the court seeking it to allocate the land to them as they were in the possession of it since long time. The case is still pending with the court.

Meanwhile, Dharmapuri sub-inspector S Vidhyasagar Rao said, so far, they did not receive any complaint from the victims. “We started investigation into the incident after receiving a complaint from the local residents,” the SI added.