Lucknow, Aug 25 (IANS): The series of fires in 'Swasthya Bhawan', the health headquarters of Uttar Pradesh, have turned out to be a conspiracy, police said on Tuesday.

The special task force (STF), given the task of probing the fire incidents, in its interim report to the government has inferred that the fire incidents were "man made" and were done "deliberately and under a conspiracy".

Health Minister Ahmad Hasan has conceded that the STF probe found that the fires were started by the staff of the department to destroy some evidence of wrongdoing.

"The STF probe has found complicity of 14 employees and six doctors in these fire incidents," the minister said while adding that the guilty would be brought to book and terminated from service.

The STF has also been asked to arrest the culprits, an official informed IANS.

In the past 45 days, as many as three fires have broken out in the building housing the health headquarters.

In the initial probe, it was discovered that many staff members had stayed back in the office on the nights the fires broke out. While it was widely believed that the fires were the result of a short circuit, the slew of incidents led to suspicions of the fires being deliberate, leading to the ordering of a probe.

Many important files, bills and other communications related to important projects, including the multi-crore NRHM scam, were destroyed.

Many powerful people have been arrested in the case that rocked the then Mayawati government.