Unidentified person sets Haryana BJP MLA’s SUV on fire, case registered

Chandigarh: A Haryana BJP legislator’s SUV was set afire by an unidentified person when the vehicle was parked in the high-security Haryana MLA Hostel complex here, police said on Wednesday.

The incident, which occurred on the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday, was captured by CCTV cameras.

The arsonist, whose face was not visible in the video, is seen breaking a windscreen of the Toyota Fortuner of Panipat MLA Pramod Kumar Vij and later setting the vehicle on fire. A fire tender reached the spot and doused the fire, but the SUV’s front portion was badly damaged.

”A case has been registered and investigations are on,” the Station House of Office of Sector 3 police station, Sher Singh, said.

He said that two to three people could be involved in the incident and efforts were on to trace them.

Speaking to reporters outside Hostel, Pramod Vij said he does not have enmity with anyone and has no clue why the vehicle was set afire.

When asked why his SUV was targeted when other vehicles too were parked near it, the MLA said, ”Police are conducting a thorough probe. Let them complete their investigations”.

”Hopefully, they should be able to catch the culprits soon,” the legislator, who had arrived in Chandigarh on Tuesday to attend the Haryana cabinet expansion event, said.

Notably, the site where the SUV had been parked is a stone’s throw from the police station.

Haryana Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta, who visited the MLA Hostel, said that ”it is a serious issue and a matter of concern that the incident took place in a high-security area”.

With the incident taking place in Chandigarh, which is the common capital of Haryana and Punjab, the Speaker said he would soon hold a joint meeting with officials concerned of the two states and the Union Territory to ensure that security arrangements are foolproof and such incidents do not recur.

”I have also spoken to DGP Haryana regarding the incident,” the Speaker said.