Duo who set 11 motorbikes afire over parking row held

Mumbai: The Bhandup police arrested two persons for last week setting afire 11 motorcycles and two cars over a petty parking dispute in the neighbourhood. The accused, identified as Dharmendra Pandey alias Karu, 23, and Kristan Nadar alias Madan, 26, wanted to operate a pay and park at the place in Shrirampada area.

Sachin Patil, deputy commissioner of police, zone VII, said, “The duo was identified following a tip-off from an informer that they had objected to parking of vehicles and there had been squabbles over the same in the past.”

The police detained Pandey and Nadar for questioning when it was ascertained that they had set the vehicles ablaze in the intervening night of March 27 and March 28. According to the police, Nadar has at least three cases of assault and two cases of house break-ins and was externed from city limits. While Pandey has three cases of assault registered with the Bhandup police.

The police is interrogating the duo in connection with the incident to ascertain who hatched the plan to target the vehicles.

The accused had burnt the vehicles at around 2.30 am and officials said that the two had removed petrol from one of the motorcycles and poured it on the other vehicles before setting them on fire.

The locals then saw the fire and tried to douse it and informed the fire brigade and the police about it. The the police also scanned through CCTV footage of societies and shops in the area.