The data processing room of the Meghalaya secretariat caught fire early this morning but there was no major damage as it was doused soon by alert security personnel, officials said. The smoke from the fire was first detected by a cleaner at around 7.30 am from the data processing room of the
North Treasury at the 3rd Secretariat Building, homeguards spokesperson Paul H Shylla said.

He alerted two home guards personnel posted on the ground floor. The home guards personnel broke open the lock to enter the room and doused the flames in less than 30 minutes, Shylla said. A wooden partition and two computer tables and chairs were reduced to ashes, he said.

Police said the matter is under investigation and treasury officials said they are assessing the loss due to the fire.