Chikkaballapur, July 21 -- Three shops were completely gutted in a late-night fire at Kencharlahalli village in Chintamani taluk of Karnataka's Chikkaballapur district, police said.

The fire, suspected to have been caused by a short circuit, engulfed a mobile shop, an electronics shop and a tea shop belonging to Shirish, Shashikumar and Suresh.

Goods worth several lakhs of rupees were reduced to ashes, resulting in heavy financial losses for the shop owners.

Fire and Emergency Services personnel rushed to the spot and extinguished the blaze, preventing it from spreading to nearby shops.

Local police visited the scene and are investigating the incident.

Earlier, a massive fire broke out at a paper packaging factory in Shivamogga city'...