THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Unidentified miscreants set fire to the Prem Nazir Library at Chirayinkeezhu in the wee wee hours of Saturday. Several hundred books kept in two rooms of the building were gutted in the incident. However, timely intervention by the people, who informed the Fire and Rescue services and the police, prevented the blaze from spreading. The Chirayinkeezhu police have registered a case in connection with the incident.
Officers said the incident is believed to have occurred around 1 am at the Kunthaloor Library which was donated by evergreen thespian Prem Nazir in 1958. The fire and rescue team put the extent of the total loss at `3 lakh.
The police ruled out a deep-rooted conspiracy behind the incident and they strongly suspect someone might have thrown cigarette buds at the bookstore. “Though it is a library, the books were kept in a disorderly manner. Moreover, there are no persons to look after it properly. Several youths used to hang out there in the evenings and they also used to ‘light up’ also. We suspect the trigger could have come from a burning cigarette.
A case has been registered and the regular visitors to the library will be interrogated,” said M Anilkumar, Attingal CI.