Six shops were gutted in a fire at Poujan Bazar in Sahadebpur union of Kalihati upazila in Tangail early Monday.
The affected shop owners estimated their losses around Tk 16.5 lakh.
According to locals and Fire Service sources, the fire broke out at a poultry feed shop owned by Sajal Chandra Saha and Gautam Kumar Deb before spreading to five adjacent shops: Babu Miah’s television repair shop, Abdul Kader’s shoe shop, Rajib Kumar’s hair salon, Sohel Rana’s poultry feed shop and Sadhan Chandra Saha’s grocery shop.
Two firefighting units from Kalihati and Elenga Fire Service and Civil Defence reached the scene and brought the fire under control after about an hour.
Elenga Fire Service and Civil Defence Acting Station Officer Ataur Rahman, said they received the report around 12:08am and reached the spot within about 10 minutes.
An electrical short-circuit is initially suspected to have caused the fire, but its exact cause and the extent of the damage are still being verified, he added.
