Another school building in Kashmir gutted
WOES CONTINUE Total number of schools damaged in last five months of unrest rises to 33
SRINAGAR: A school building was gutted in a mysterious fire in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Saturday night.
:A school building was gutted in a mysterious fire in south Kashmir's Anantnag district late on Saturday night, an addition to the over 25 schools burnt down completely or partially in the last five months of unrest in the Valley.
The unabated burning of schools in Kashmir in October had spiralled into a major issue in the Valley’s political discourse and the state high court had stepped in to direct the government to take all necessary steps to protect them.
Fire broke out in Government High School at Larnoo in Kokernag area of Anantnag, police said. Locals said that the rooftop of the single-storey building, comprising four rooms, was the first to catch fire.
Anantnag superintendent of police Zubair Khan told HT the possibility of miscreants setting fire on the school cannot be ruled out. The other possibility, he said, could be that the rooftop caught the fire because a powerful electrical cable passes over it.
He added that further investigation into the cause behind the fire was being investigated. The flames were, however, brought under control by authorities and no one was injured in the incident. Police have said there has been no common ground found among the arsonists arrested on alleged school burning charges.
In November, international rights body Human Rights Watch had said attacks on education sector in Kashmir, including the mysterious burning of schools, should be stopped.