A devastating fire damaged at least 40 shanties of non-state labourers at Marattha Mohalla, Trikuta Nagar, in Jammu and claimed life of a 6-year-old boy, police said.
Neeraj, 6, was asleep when the hutments caught fire at around 1 am, police said.
SHO Trikuta Nagar, Parvez Sajjad told Greater Kashmir that from the preliminary investigations it appears that the fire erupted in the jhuggies inhabited by the non-state residents, mostly from Chattisgarh and Maharashtra, due to short-circuit. “However, we’re investigating other aspects as well.”
The body of the 6-year-old boy was recovered from the debris of the jhuggies, he said.
The affected labourer families from Chattisgarh and Maharashtra claimed that besides loss of a life, their property worth several lakh was completely destroyed in the fire.
Around 2 months back, same jhuggies caught mysterious fire but no loss of property or life was reported then.