MP: Fire Breaks Out in Lokayukta Office

 Bhopal: A fire broke out in the state Lokayukta office here on Sunday.

It took around two hours for 14 fire brigade personnel to bring the inferno under control, officials said.

Three fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the fire.

Fire officials suspect that the waste materials dumped in a corner of the premises of the Lokayukta office might have caught fire due to the short circuit in a nearby electrical installation.

“There was no serious damage to the Lokayukta office due to the fire. Only garbage and some old furniture caught fire”, Lokayukta superintendent of police Manu Vyas told this newspaper.

The fire incident caused nervousness in the official circle here with Lokayukta currently probing some major scandals including the alleged irregularities in the purchase of computers amounting to Rs 100 crore by the Madhya Pradesh Secondary Education Board.

The Lokayukta has taken cognizance of the issue in the wake of a complaint filed with it in this regard.

According to the complaint, in June 2023, the then authorities of the secondary education board sanctioned the purpose of three pieces of equipment, including computer desktops, for each of the 3,500 examination centres in Madhya Pradesh.

The cost of each computer desktop was reported to be Rs 1,39,350, resulting in a total expenditure of around Rs 96.70 crore.

The Lokayukta is also currently probing the allegation of installation of some statues of poor quality in the Mahakal corridor developed in the premises of ancient shrine of Mahakaleshwar in Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh.

A gale wind had swept away some statues in the Mahakal corridor a couple of years ago triggering public outcry.