JHAPA: Properties worth Rs 1.2 milling were destroyed after a cotton factory caught fire at Bhadrapur-5 in Jhapa district.

The fire broke out in the cotton factory run by Ram Chandra Sahani, a local, on Tuesday night, said DSP Rakesh Thapa of District Police Office, Jhapa.

The fire had been triggered after pebbles contained inside the cotton came into contact with the running machine, according to Thapa.

A cotton crushing machine, 57 sacks of cotton were destroyed in the fire. Police, locals contained the fire with a firefighter brought from Bhadrapur municipality.