15 May 2004	Saturday	24 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

VEHARI, May 14: At least 25 kiosks were burnt to ashes in Luddan, some 30 kilometres from here, on Friday as the fire brigade demanded bribe to extinguish the fire.

It is learnt that the fire erupted early in the morning and within half an hour, around 25 shops were engulfed by it.

The shopkeepers alleged that when they contacted Vehari fire brigade, its incharge demanded Rs4,000 bribe. They contacted Burewala and Hasilpur fire brigades but in vain.

Later, the shopkeepers extinguished the fire with the help of residents of the area after a four-hour struggle. By then the fire had reduced all their merchandize to ashes.

After extinguishing the fire, the shopkeepers staged a protest and blocked Vehari-Hasilpur road for one hour by burning tyres. Later, they dispersed peacefully.

Anjuman Tajran president Nawaz Wattoo told Dawn by phone that the cause of fire could not known.

He claimed that goods worth Rs2 million were reduced to ashes.