Belthangady : A fire incident at Laila gram panchayat office on Wednesday morning resulted in the destruction of documents; the fire was said to be a result of a short circuit.

Locals noticed the fire and informed the fire brigade, police and panchayat staff. Computers and furniture including records were destroyed in the incident.

MESCOM officials, deputy secretary of the Zilla Panchayat and president of the Grama Panchayat visited the spot.

The Belthangady unit of the Dalit Sangharsha Samithi submitted an appeal for conducting a thorough investigation of the incident. It is said that there had been misappropriation of funds in the panchayat, hence suspicions regarding the incident.

In the meantime, MESCOM officials stated that short circuit was not due to electricity problem and so it is suspected that staff of the panchayat was involved in the incident.