As reported a day earlier by Nagaland Post, five members of a family died and many others injured when rows of some 40 CGI roof-bamboo walled houses were burned down in a devastating fire at Naharbari’s Master Colony Sunday night at around 10.40 p.m. The deaths of the five was confirmed by chairman of Naharbari Ward 10, L BendangAo.
He disclosed that all the deceased were from the same family who belonged to the Bihari community at Dimapur. The chairman said the family were vendors by occupation and had been asleep when fire broke out. He said they could not run when a gas cylinder burst as the doors were locked from inside.
Bendang said the fire was started from the house of the deceased which was suspected to be caused by a lighted probably lit for diwali. The deceased were identified as- Akhilesh Shah, father (55 years), Shobha Devi, mother (50 years), Boby Shah, son (28 years), Sanu Kumar, son (14) and Manoj Kumar, son (12). The chairman said there was no evidence of any foul play at the scene. The dead bodies were handed over to the family members after required formalities were completed at East Police station, early Monday morning.
The chairman said that the Deputy Commissioner Dimapur, Dr Tinojongshi Chang took stock of the situation on Monday morning and immediately handed over cash of Rs. 50,000 to the deceased’s family members. He said the colony has also appealed to the authorities to provide relief to the victims.
A police source informed that the loss due to the fire was estimated at between Rs. 20 to 40 lakhs, and that out of 40 houses were destroyed, two houses belonged to two Naga families.