HYDERABAD: Fire broke out on Goshamahal police stadium premises gutting 30 two-wheelers, six cars and seven auto-rickshaws, all seized by police in different cases over past few years, in the early hours of Tuesday. Several pushcarts, signboards and other material, seized and kept on the stadium premises by the traffic police, also went up in smoke in the accident.

Cigarette butt

The Shahinayatgunj police said they were yet to ascertain reasons behind the incident. They believe somebody threw half burnt cigarette butt, which could have fallen on the fuel tank of one of the vehicles, leading to the fire mishap. "Or sparks flying from the welding shops adjacent to the stadium compound wall might have ignited the combustible material lying among the vehicles," Goshamahal ACP Sridhar said.

Due to lack of space at police stations, Hyderabad police shift vehicles seized in different cases to the stadium. A head constable and a home guard keep a watch on these vehicles round-the-clock. The head constable Narayana Rao, who was on night duty, said that he saw smoke emanating from a corner around 4 a.m.

Since no phone was available at the guardroom, he ran into the nearby City Security Wing office room and called up the main police control room, which alerted the firemen. By the time fire-tenders and policemen reached the place, it was 4.20 a.m. Firemen had to toil over 30 minutes to put out the blazes.

"Quick reaction from firemen helped avert a major disaster," the ACP explained.

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