A massive fire gutted down 3,700 bags of Kendu leaves stored in one compartment of a three-compartment godown at Shahpur under Chainpur police station early on Friday morning.

Police have found a hand written blue ink note with JJMP the name of a rebel outfit and one more name Mahesh saying “this attack on contractor is because the contractor was not following...the end is most abrupt”.

The note is most dubious and a worked out one without even a remote possibility of any linkage of this fire in the Kendu leaves godown to rebel outfit JJMP. SP, Palamu, Ajay Linda said, “Police are investigating the cause of fire vis a vis the motive behind it.” Linda said there is not even a remote linkage of this fire to any extremist outfit JJMP at all. Police at first sight ruled it out and there is a strong reason behind it.

Linda said the godown was a locked one pucca structure with ventilators in it and even if some ignition has been inserted through one of the ventilators of this godown then in that event bags of dry Kendu leaves would have started burning from the top of the row of the bags but here the fire has broken out from the surface first and then rising and engulfing the whole lot. Fire has advanced from the surface to the top and this rules out any fire ball sent through the ventilator reiterated SP. The godown has about half a dozen ventilators on one side and one was found a bit open said inspector Shahi.

SP suspected one of the doors of the godown must have been opened and then this fire was caused for some ulterior motive. About the motive behind this, the SP said police are investigating the case quite minutely. Incidentally just a couple of days back one of the contractors of kendu leaves whose bags were stored in this godown was jailed on an FIR lodged against him said inspector of police Chainpur R R Shahi.  Shahi did not give any more elaboration on this. Shahi added bags of kendu leaves were all insured.

As regards the note of JJMP in blue ink Shahi said this is just a diversion as extremists use red ink and they have a full format of their letter head and not this kind of ‘chutka’ ( piece of paper).  Shahi further said the content written in the note too does not match with the style and objective of the extremist outfit. Officer in charge of Chainpur police station Sunit Kumar said around 6 in the morning police was told of this fire and immediately a team of police including Shahi and he rushed to the godown after informing the fire brigades to rush to the site.

Sunit Kumar said two fire tenders were pressed in and for water refill there tankers of water were also brought in.

The raging fire was controlled within hours but billows of smoke continued emanating from the godown till late in the day today.  There was no loss of any life. The godown is at Shahpur’s weigh bridge but human habitation remained absolutely unaffected.  The fire did not cause any public panic.

Both the police officers said 40 labourers pressed by kendu leaves contractor’s men here saved hundreds of kendu leaves bags from any impact or effect of the fire. Police got broke down a portion of the godown with the help of JCB machine to thin out smoke within and also for safe exit of intact bags of kendu leaves.