India, May 27 -- A late-night fire on Tuesday near the Morni Hills forest area in Panchkula district triggered an investigation after preliminary findings suggested the blaze was man-made. The fire was reported around 9:30pm on land falling under Ramsar village adjoining the forest, and partially spread into the nearby jungle before being controlled around 12.15am through a joint operation by local villagers and the forest department's firefighting team.

District forest officer (Morni-Pinjore forest division) Vishal Kaushik said that officials have analysed immediate video footage of the incident. "There is no clear boundary between the village habitation and the forest land in the area," Kaushik said, adding the department has already i...