B A H A W A L P U R : Clothes, cosmetics and other articles worth over Rs20m were reduced to ashes when 21 shops of the Peshawar Bara Centre near Shehzadi Chowk were completely gutted at night.

The fire was apparently caused by short-circuiting of a hanging electric metre at a makeshift shop of the centre in the heart of the old city. The shops contained imported as well as smuggled goods, including shoes, chemicals and other material. The fire quickly engulfed the centre as well as the shops nearby it.

District Coordination Officer Imran Sikander Baloch and other administration officials rushed to the scene and supervisedthe 1122 rescue operation.

The firefighters claimed to have controlled the fire within two hours that saved several shops but not before 21 shops were completely burnt.

Shopkeepers and traders` representatives, Akhtar Langah and Muhammad, alleged that when the firefighters arrived the fire had already destroyed the heavy stocks of clothes and cosmetics of many shops, causing heavy losses to their owners.

They claimed the losses to be over Rs20m. They demanded the chief minister announce monetary assistance for them.

RELEASED: Additional District and Sessions Judge Anwarul Haq released six prisoners involved in the petty crime.