Sacked employee sets paint shop ablaze in Nagpur, arrested

Nagpur: A 24-year-old man has been arrested for setting ablaze a paint shop in Nagpur city after its owner sacked him over behavioural issues, an official said on Saturday.

The incident took place in the Itwari area under the jurisdiction of the Tehsil police station in the early hours of Tuesday, less than 48 hours after accused Raunak Paliwal was shown the door apparently due to negligent behaviour.

Initially, nobody had an inkling that Paliwal, who worked at the shop for about six months, would be involved in the arson, which caused a loss of nearly Rs 45 lakh to owner Burhan Daud Ajiz Daud (29).

As the police were probing the matter, the owner of a neighbouring establishment handed over the footage of a CCTV camera to the paint shop owner. The footage turned out to be the clinching evidence, the official.

The footage showed Paliwal pouring petrol into the shop through a gap in the shutter before setting the place on fire and fleeing on a two-wheeler. Based on a complaint by the owner’s family and the CCTV footage, the police on Saturday arrested Paliwal.

In custody, the accused said that he set the shop afire to take revenge for his sacking.

A case has been registered against Paliwal under Indian Penal Code Section 436 (mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy house, etc.), said the official, adding that he has been remanded in police custody for three days.