Bhubaneswar, July 10: Property worth Rs 5 crore was gutted in an early morning fire that engulfed a biscuit factory at Patia today.

A short circuit could have led to the fire, officials indicated. The deputy director of factories and boilers (safety) has asked the Lingaraj Biscuit Factory to suspend work till the probe to ascertain the reason behind the fire was complete. No casualties took place in the incident.

Smoke started billowing out of the two-storey factory around 3.30am. An employee noticed it and called fire services at 3.40am.

The fire spread quickly due to presence of inflammable materials such as plastic and oil at the factory. More than 100 fire personnel and as many as 12 fire tenders were pressed into service to contain the flames. A National Disaster Response Force team also rushed to the spot. The fire was brought under control in the evening.

Located over more than two acres, the factory had been set up at the Chandaka Industrial Estate of Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (Idco) more than a decade ago. While two tonnes of biscuit were produced there on a daily basis, the facility was also storing around 25 tonnes of biscuit to reprint new price tags after the GST came into force. The plant had been manufacturing Parle-G biscuits of several sizes for the past few years, police said.

"We suspect a short circuit might have led to the accident. We are now clearing the damaged biscuit stocks. We have also brought smoke ventilator to remove smoke. No casualties have been reported in the incident," said fire officer Ramesh Chandra Majhi.

Several district administration officials, including the Khurda sub-collector, visited the spot to take stock of the situation.

Later, the directorate of factories and boilers asked the plant to discontinue operations till the probe was complete.

"The directorate had visited the plant in August last year and then asked the plant authorities to come up with an onsite emergency plan to tackle emergencies such as explosions, fire mishaps and collapse of the structure. The plant authorities had failed to comply, following which we registered a case against the plant in November 2016. Though the fire mishap is suspected to be caused by short circuit, we will also consider the possibility of sabotage during investigation," said deputy director of factories and boilers (safety) Malay Kumar Pradhan.