NEW DELHI: At least 20 cars were gutted after a 23-year-old man intentionally set one of them ablaze to take revenge on a man who was in a relationship with his cousin. The incident took place at a multilevel parking lot in Subhash Nagar early on Monday. The accused has been arrested. Fire officials said the blaze was doused within an hour. The building’s ‘no objection certificate’ had expired and no firefighting system was found in a working condition there.Police got a call around 4.30am regarding the fire at the MCD parking lot. Apart from a police team, seven fire tenders reached the spot to douse the fire. Locals had also rushed to the parking lot to save their cars from being burnt.“After the fire tenders extinguished the blaze, 20 cars were found gutted in the third basement of the parking lot. Only the chassis remained of some of the vehicles. A case under IPC sections 436 (mischief by fire) and 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of Rs 50) and Section 4 of Prevention of Damage to Public Property has been registered,” said Akshat Kaushal, additional DCP (West).Later, police said they scanned footage of CCTV cameras installed at the parking lot. In one footage, they found a man setting the tyre of an Ertiga car on fire. Soon, other parked cars caught fire and got burnt. CCTV cameras installed outside the parking were also checked. The accused was seen coming in a white Honda CRV. He was seen leaving the spot in the same vehicle.“The car was followed through the footage of CCTV cameras installed in the area and the accused was identified as Yash Arora (23), a businessman. On interrogation, he disclosed that he had personal enmity with Ishan, the owner of the Ertiga. He burnt the car to take revenge. Further investigation is in progress,” said Kaushal.During interrogation, Arora allegedly told police that he used a lighter to set the tyre on fire. He told the cops that his cousin was in a relationship with Ishan. As he did not like it, he decided to take revenge.Mohit Palia, a resident of Subhash Nagar, said he got to know that his car had caught fire after he reached the spot to drop his child at school.“Our Christmas gift was the loss of our car. Our children were dressed as Santa and were distributing gifts in the morning. When I reached the parking lot to drop them off at school, I found the car burnt. We used to park here as we felt our cars would remain safe. We have parking space near our house, but as thefts kept happening we opted for the multilevel parking lot. My Swift Dzire was gutted. We have insurance, but we will have to face inconvenience in this cold weather for no fault of ours. It is festive time and the family needs the car for work, to pick up and drop off children and for meetings,” said Palia.Another car owner told TOI that he had purchased his vehicle just a month ago and was shocked to see it charred in the morning.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/20-cars-gutted-as-man-sets-one-on-fire-to-take-revenge/articleshow/96526381.cms