Fire breaks out in century-old Shillong Bar Association building

Guwahati: One of the oldest legal centers of Meghalaya – the Shillong Bar Association office – was gutted in a devastating fire. The fire broke out late Saturday night. According to officials, being a wooden building, the fire quickly spread throughout the complex. The fire destroyed the entire office destroying thousands of case files, many of them decades old. The building housing the Shillong Bar Association was built in 1913. Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma reached the spot and promised all possible assistance to the legal fraternity of the state. Since his late father, P.A. Sangma, also a former state lawyer, said the chief minister said it was with a heavy heart that he witnessed the damage done to the office of a long-standing cornerstone of democracy. At least four fire engines and around 20 firefighters were involved in the rescue operation. They were able to extinguish the blazing fire in the Shillong Bar Association building after midnight.