Five houses gutted in fire at Gopalganj village

Alok Mishra

Gopalganj: Cash and other valuables worth lakhs of rupees were gutted when fire gutted five houses late on January 13 night at village Kamanpura under Manjha police station. Five cattle were also roasted alive in the fire.

Locals said that one Nirmala Devi did not extinguish her hearth (chullah) after cooking her meal due to extreme cold on January 13 night. Her thatched house caught fire in the midnight and soon the flames surrounded the houses of  Bindalal Mahato, Rita Devi, Munni Devi and Umashankar Singh. Reeta Devi sustained serious burn injuries when she tried to save her cattle. Later, the villagers somehow doused the fire. On January 14 morning, panchayat mukhiya Rajesh Singh and local pramukh Deolal Sah reached there and informed the Circle Officer (CO).