Hyderabad: Tension prevailed outside the Yousufain Dargah’s Zanana Gate after an alleged short circuit led to a huge fire that burned down more than 16 shops. Few owners of the shops allege that the incident was a conspiracy to destroy their businesses.
The fire broke out around 10 am on Monday, after which the flames engulfed the marketplace at the Yousufain Darga’s Zanana gate. The fire gutted more than 16 shops, according to the shop owners.
With few weeks ahead of Ramzan, the shopkeepers at Yousufain Darga’s Zanana Gate say that they recently brought goods which were to be sold during the holy month.
According to Syed Hamid (owner of one of the shops that got burned), the artificial jewellery and toy shops belong to lower middle-class businessmen who have many people depending on them.
The shopkeepers said that they bought goods worth lakhs on high-interest loans so that they could be sold during Ramzan and earn profit out of.
“We lost everything, the goods were brought just recently ahead of Ramzan, we faced enough losses during the lockdown, we had to take loans and now because of this fire we have nowhere to go,” Mr Hamid said.
Many of the shop owners said that a lot of people depended on these shops for livelihoods and now they are on ‘roads’.
