Bokaro (Jharkhand), Oct 31 (PTI) Several shops selling firecrackers were gutted in a blaze in Jharkhand’s Bokaro district on Thursday evening, police said. However, no casualty has been reported so far, a police officer said. The incident took place near Garga Bridge in Bokaro Steel City police station area. Bokaro City DSP Alok Ranjan said around 13-14 makeshift shops selling firecrackers have been gutted.

He said that the district administration had given permission to these shopkeepers to set up firecracker shops temporarily. Ranjan said that the fire has been doused and investigation is underway to ascertain the reason behind it. The shopkeepers claimed that they faced a huge loss due to the incident. They demanded compensation from the administration against their losses.

Bokaro’s BJP MLA Biranchi Narayan reached the spot after the incident and said that had the district administration and fire brigade been active, such an incident would not have happened.