Dozens of vehicles seized by the police were burnt on Thursday afternoon, after a suspected short circuit caused a fire at Kaner police beat chowky, in Virar east. According to police sources, most of these vehicles were seized in the past few years by the Virar police in various crimes, and had been kept in the premises of Kaner police beat, near the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway.

Three fire brigade vehicles and water tankers from the Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation took two hours to douse the fire. "The reason behind the fire is not clear, but it is suspected that it was caused due to a short circuit in the transformer situated near the parking lot," said a police official.