A fire broke out at Bakerganj upazila's market area in Barisal on Saturday morning.
Bakerganj police station officer-in-charge (OC) AZM Masuduzzaman said: "The fire started from an electric short circuit in a shop at the market near the launch terminal, at around 5:30am on Saturday."
It rapidly spread towards the police station of the town.
Three fire service units with the help of local people succeeded to bring the fire under control within two hours.
Twenty shops and two houses in the Bakerganj bazaar area were gutted by the fire, the police official added.
Properties worth Tk2 crore are estimated to be lost, he said.
Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Kazi Saleh Mustanjir, visiting the affected area said: "The administration is preparing a list of affected people and calculating the damage-cost which will be sent to higher authorities for necessary relief grants."
