At least 20 shops were gutted in a fire in West Bengal’s Howrah district early on Thursday, a fire official said.

No injuries were reported in the incident that took place in Registry Gali area adjacent to Bagnan central bus stand, he said.

Four fire tenders were pressed into service and the blaze was brought under control after two hours, the fire official said.

Fire and police officials suspect that the blaze erupted due to short-circuit in one of the shops and spread to the other commercial establishments, he said, adding further investigation is underway.

The process of ascertaining the amount of losses is underway, he said, even as shopkeepers claimed that goods worth more than Rs 1 crore were gutted.

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