At least five killed & 12 others received injuries in fire that extensively damaged standing wheat crop in some districts in Punjab & Haryana this week, a private newspaper reported.

Several heads of cattle perished in the infernos that also destroyed grain stores & farm equipment in Punjab’s Muktsar & Bhatinda districts & Dabwali area in Haryana.

The fires, which broke out simultaneously threatening to engulf human settlements, had been totally extinguished. An official said that five people, three of them women, perished in the fires. The fires destroyed standing crop in some 60 villages in Muktsar & Bathinda in Punjab & Sirsa district in Haryana.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the fire might have been caused by farmers who in an attempt to clear their fields for the next farm operation set wheat stubs ablaze.