HYDERABAD, May 28 The record of almost half-a-decade went up in smoke in one of the important branches of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education late on Thursday.

It took some three hours for the firemen to control the blaze. Fire tenders reached the spot at 515 and were able to put off the blaze by 8pm.

The Controller of Examinations, Prof Mohsin Atta believed the fire to be caused by short-circuit, while the Chairman BISE had formed a three-member committee headed by the Secretary to furnish inquiry report to him.

The gutted branch deals with certificates of the SSC and HSC and the fire-fighters claimed that nothing of the 48-year-old record could be saved.

However, the controller of examinations asserted that not all record was gutted but documents kept in store and steel cupboard were safe.

The branch on Thursday closed as usual at 4pm and soon after, board officials were informed of the inferno. Three lower cadre employees entered the branch from the back to extinguish fire. It was learnt that record lay there which was to be dispatched to various colleges and schools affiliated with the BISE.

No case was lodged and no one was suspended by the board authorities.

The record, since 1961 when board was established, was kept there.