Chandigarh man''s car set afire by miscreants in Mumbai

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, November 15

A Chandigarh man visiting friends in suburban Mumbai on Monday night found his car set on fire by miscreants while the family slept in the flat upstairs.

Rohit Mehra, 32, and his wife were visiting friends at the Shiv Om Towers located in Chandivali's Nahar Amrit Shakti complex when the family was woken up by the building watchman at around 4 am on Tuesday.

“The security guard told me my car parked in the slot meant for guests was on fire. Since I remember locking the car properly before parking it, I was surprised how the car caught fire. It took the residents of the building 20 minutes to put it off using fire extinguishers,” Mehra said.

Mehra was in for a surprise when he checked the footage from the CCTV cameras installed in the building complex. A large SUV, suspected to be a Mercedes 4Matic, is seen pulling beside Mehra's Volkswagen Vento.

While the driver of the SUV turns around the vehicle towards the gate, a man alighting from the front passenger door is seen rushing out with what appears to be a bottle towards the VW Vento.

In just a few moments flames are seen shooting up from the driver's side of the Vento while the arsonist is seen making his getaway in the SUV.

The entire incident took less than three minutes going by the timeline on the video. The building watchman was sleeping on the job and did not notice the SUV entering and leaving the premises after the case of arson.

The residents of the society had a miraculous escape since the building's gas pipeline was located just inches away from the burning car.

“I don't understand why they targetted my car. I was only visiting the society,” says Mehra who has been living in the township of Dombivli near Mumbai for the last two years. Worse still for him, the insurance on the car expired only last month and Mehra was yet to renew it when vehicle was set afire.

Officials at the Saki Naka police station where an FIR has been filed in the incident suspect that it may have been a case of mistaken identity since cars similar to Mehra's were parked nearby. Owners of other cars were questioned to no avail.

“Though the man who set the car on fire was facing the CCTV camera, his features are not clear,” the duty officer at the Saki Naka police station said.

Police officials said they would now examine the footage from CCTV cameras installed by the traffic police department in order to trace the SUV.