A mysterious fire at Bhabani Bhavan, headquarters of South 24-Parganas, at 9.30 am on Thursday razed the office of the West Bengal Minorities Development and Finance Corporation (WBMDFC). The second floor office of the chief accountant, the store and record rooms were gutted. Nine computers containing important records were destroyed.

Minister of fire services Pratim Chatterjee ruled out sabotage, saying ?the fire, going by early reports, seems to have been accidental?. Asked if fire-prevention measures at Bhabani Bhavan were adequate, Chatterjee replied: ?Why only Bhabani Bhavan? Fire-fighting measures need urgent upgrade at other buildings like the high court, New Secretariat Building and Writers? Buildings.?

Chatterjee alleged that the public works department (PWD) was not taking its job of maintenance seriously.

Back at Bhabani Bhavan, 15 fire tenders fought the blaze for three hours. According to employees, the fire could have started from a computer that had not been switched off.

WBMDFC general manager Shakil Ahmed said the office had functioned on Wednesday, which was a holiday for state government departments on account of Lakshmi puja. ?The doors of the office are opened and closed by a caretaker from the PWD and not our staff,? Ahmed added.

Though the fire broke out after 9 am, Ahmed was informed about it an hour later. ?A Group D staff of the corporation, Talib, telephoned me at 10.10 am about the fire,? he said.

Firemen could not enter the office as the doors were locked. They had to climb up the second floor windows and spray water through them. Employees working in the building blamed the outdated electrical wiring for the blaze.

The WBMDFC employs 35 staffers and its activities include sanctioning loans up to Rs 1 lakh to entrepreneurs belonging to economically backward sections of society. In the last financial year, the corporation had sanctioned loans totalling Rs 19.5 crore, officials said.

The computer room and the record room have been sealed by the police for verification by forensic experts.