Conflicting theories from police and the forensic department have cast a cloud of confusion over the blaze that gutted the Mullickghat flower market on Friday night.

After a preliminary inquiry at the site of the 125-year-old market, the police had indicated that that the fire had originated from a cooking gas cylinder.

“So far, the cooking gas theory has been ruled out. The pattern of the fire suggests that some combustible material stored in a shop caught fire and the breeze helped it spread to the rest of the market,” D. Sengupta, the director of the state forensic laboratory, told Metro on Monday.

“We are trying to find out whether it was an act of sabotage or an accident. Things will be clear within a fortnight,” added Sengupta.

The fire had gutted 240 of the 263 stalls in eastern India’s biggest flower market and a section of the traders had sniffed sabotage in the Friday night blaze.

“It was a calculated move to evict people who did not own a stall at the wholesale market but were doing business there for decades,” alleged a trader.

The Calcutta Municipal Corporation has cleared the plan for a three-storeyed flower market at Mullickghat. Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee was to flag off the Rs 26-crore project in May.

Forensic experts have already traced the origin of the fire and collected electrical wires from there.

They have also collected two mangled LPG cylinders, stoves, mangled tin shades, charred flower bundles and bamboo poles.

“The electrical wires from the shop will be crucial for the probe. The degree to which they melted will help us conclude where the fire had originated. We have spoken to traders but they gave contradictory statements,” said Sengupta.

According to a forensic expert, large volumes of combustible plastic items were stored inside the market and even a bidi or a cigarette butt could have sparked a blaze.

Fire minister Pratim Chatterjee on Monday took the wait-and-watch line: “Forensic experts are probing the cause. I cannot comment unless I get the final report.”