Bantwal: A fire broke out at Vishwakarma Seva Sahakari branch at Melkar in Panemangaluru village and caused heavy damage on Sunday afternoon around 1:30pm on July 15th.

The fire has completely destroyed the manager’s chamber, four computers, printers, server, electrical wiring, phone records, CCTV cameras and other equipments. The loss has been estimated to be in lakhs together.

This bank is close to 26-years old used to function from the Sri Devi building here. On Sunday afternoon, smoke and fire was observed coming from within the building. Bantwal fire brigade rushed to the spot and doused the flames, inform the localities.

The police suspect that an electrical short-circuit must have caused the incident. The incident slightly hampered traffic on the national highway. Melkar traffic police rushed to the spot and regularized traffic flow.

On receiving information, the bank manager Usha and staff rushed to the spot and carried an inspection. A case has been registered with the Bantwal city police.