Fire destroys record in Civil Secretariat building in Kashmir

A fire broke out Friday in the building of Civil Secretariat in Jammu, the winter capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir, officials said. The fire started mysteriously from a room in the main building but was doused immediately. "Today fire broke out mysteriously at a room in Civil Secretariat but was immediately brought under control by the timely action of fire tenders," said an official. "Had the security personnel not raised an alarm the fire would have engulfed the whole building." Sources in the secretariat said the fire destroyed files and documents of the Cooperative Department. The secretariat complex houses the office of the region's Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, his ministers and other top bureaucrats. There were no reports of people being trapped inside the building or injured in the blaze. The cause of fire is being ascertained. However, preliminary investigation points at an electric short circuit. In July, official record of six government departments was destroyed in a massive fire that gutted a building in the premises of Civil Secretariat in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian- controlled Kashmir. Civil Secretariat is considered seat of local government in the region. In winters the government offices move from Civil Secretariat Srinagar to Jammu.