24 houses in Thotalaga Kajima Waththa, Colombo have been damaged by a fire this morning.
Police say that 12 houses have been completely damaged due to the fire and the residents of those houses are currently staying in a community hall in the area.
A senior police official said that the Government Analyst had also been summoned to investigate the fire.
Similarly, houses in this estate were set on fire last year as well. More than 20 houses were damaged during that fire. The Government Analyst has been summoned to investigate that fire but no reports have been received so far, police said.
Police suspect that an electrical leak may have been the cause of the fires that broke out then and now. The houses on fire are in a single row. Although the government has built flats for the residents of this estate and sent them to live there, some people are still living in these houses, police said.
Although the electricity supply to those houses has been cut off by the Electricity Board, the police say that the people are using the electricity illegally. A few weeks ago, the CEB raided the estate and arrested more than 20 people for illegally obtaining electricity, police said.
