A massive fire broke out in the storehouse of an ink company, Bharat Flexo Graphic Printing Ink, in Jeedimetla industrial area on Wednesday. As many as 10 fire tenders battled for more than eight hours to bring the blaze under control. No casualties were reported. Two floors of the company, situated in the fourth phase, near Hetero Drug Limited, were gutted. The owners say that the loss could be close to `1 crore.
The fire spread to three adjacent buildings, Laks-hman Private Limited, New Pharma, and Excellent Engineers, causing some damage, and the police evacuated them. According to Jeedim-etla inspector A. Sanjeev Rao, more than 500 barrels of chemicals were kept in the company’s storehouse. “We are yet to confirm what the chemicals were,” he said. “It is suspected that they were used for purposes other than ink production,” he said. Traffic was affected for more than five hours. Apparently, the licence for running the unit had expired in January. Police booked a case under Section 284 and 285 is investigating.