While no casualties were reported, the blaze, which raged for 10 hours, is said to have gutted several admin documents
A fire broke out on Sunday morning in the Enforcement Directorate's office located in south Mumbai. While no casualties were reported, the blaze, which raged for 10 hours, is said to have gutted several admin documents as well as paperwork of high-profile cases such as Mehul Choksi and Nirav Modi, as well as politicians Chhagan Bhujbal and Anil Deshmukh.
As per a report by the Times of India, an assessment of the damage caused by the fire is underway. TOI further added that while both physical and digital investigation records were kept at the office, recovery might be possible due to the documents being digitised.
The report by TOI further stated that sources revealed major damage was caused to office infrastructure, including computers and documentations.
As per news agency ANI, the fire at the ED office broke out at 2:30 AM and escalated to a level three fire by 4:21 AM.
"It was a level 3 fire. It took time to douse the fire due to heavy smoke. Since the area was large, the situation was brought under control from all sides," said Mumbai Fire Brigade Chief Fire Officer Ravindra Ambulgekar to news agency ANI.
Reports added that the fire was restricted to the fourth floor of the ED Zone-1 office.
The fire was doused by Sunday noon. However, as per the fire brigade, "furniture, computers, and many important government files were destroyed in the fire."