Sufi Saint's shrine gutted in fire in Kashmir

A shrine of a revered sufi saint was on Sunday gutted in a mysterious fire at Ratsuna village of central Kashmir's Budgam district, triggering protest in the area.

Fire broke out at Baba Haneefuddin's shrine, made of mostly wood, in wee hours on Sunday at Ratsuna village in Beerwah area of Budgam district, official sources said.

A complete shutdown was observed in Beerwah town following the incident, but the situation remained peaceful. Ghulam Rasool Hami, chairman of the Mutteheda Ulema

Ahl-e-Sunnat, accused the government of failing to protect the religious places in Kashmir.

"This is a conspiracy to destroy the ancient religious assets of Muslims in Kashmir. We will not sit silent and come on roads to unveil the conspiracy," Hami said.

This is the second shrine to be destroyed in a fire incident within 20 days. On June 25, the shrine of Dastageer Sahib in Khanyar was destroyed in a mysterious fire incident.