Shivamogga: Three days after the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) submitted its interim report on the death of 14-year-old minor girl in Tirthahalli town, the shop owned by the father of the victim has been reduced to ash in a fire mishap on wee hours of Friday.

The shop owner though has blamed that the culprits responsible for the death of his daughter were behind the incident, the police have said that the reason for the fire was yet to be ascertained.

Superintendent of Police, Koushalendra Kumar, who visited the spot said that a probe would be conducted to bring out the truth.

The shop is located is Balebailu locality in Tirthahalli town. In the complaint lodged with Tirthahalli police, the shop owner has said that the incident took place around 3 a.m. on Friday. By the time the fire extinguishers arrived to the spot, the goods in the shop were reduced to ash. The total loss is estimated to be around Rs 3 lakh.

Meanwhile Irfan, a resident of Balebailu locality in Tirthahalli town was assaulted by unidentified persons on Friday morning. It may be mentioned here that, during the protests held in Tirthahalli town following the death of the minor girl, the stones were pelted by miscreants at the vehicle owned by Irfan. The police security has been provided for his house.

Following these developments, the police personnel are deployed in large numbers in sensitive places in Tirthahalli town to avoid any untoward incidents.

It may be mentioned here that the father of the victim had lodged a complaint with the police that his daughter was abducted and forced to consume water laced with sedatives due to which she died. The CID in its interim report had said that, unable to manage the academic pressure, the girl committed suicide. The father had alleged that, CID officials were trying to save the culprits by projecting the incident as suicide.