Man who triggered Madhya Pradesh fire that killed 7 arrested, say police
A man who allegedly set ablaze a woman’s two-wheeler, leading to a fire that gutted a three-storey residential building, killing seven people and injuring nine others, was arrested in Indore late on Saturday, police said.Shubham Dixit, alias Sanjay, a 28-year-old resident of Jhansi, was arrested from Lohamandi hours after the incident. He was produced before an Indore drict court, which sent him to three-day police remand, they added.Dixit used to rent a flat in the building where the woman lived with her mother, but moved out after she rejected his romantic advances, Vijay Nagar police station in-charge Tehzeeb Qazi said. The woman recently got engaged to another man, the officer added.The accused had reportedly lent ₹10,000 to the woman and wanted his money back. “On Saturday night, Sanjay called the woman for the money. After a fight, he threatened her with dire consequences. Later, he went to the parking area of the building, took out petrol from a bike parked near and poured it on the woman’s two-wheeler and set it on fire,” Qazi said.The fire spread and engulfed the entire building. Four people were burnt alive, and three others suffocated to death. Nine people were injured and shifted to a hospital, Qazi said. The woman and her mother managed to escape the inferno with the help of a rope.Dixit fled to Lohamandi and tried to flee on seeing policemen chasing after him. He fell and suffered injuries on his leg and hand, and was admitted to a hospital before he was arrested, Qazi said.“The accused said he just wanted to set the two-wheeler on fire because the woman cheated him, but he did not think about the consequences,” Indore police commissioner HN Mishra said. “We have learnt that there are criminal cases against him in New Delhi.”While police initially suspected an electrical short circuit as the cause of the fire, they learnt about the man’s action after viewing CCTV footage in the area.In the video clips, Dixit was seen entering the parking area and setting the two-wheeler on fire. He was also seen trying to tamper with a CCTV camera and the electricity metre.Police said they would record the woman’s statement as well in the case.The woman informed the police that Dixit was a fraud and when she came to know about him, she decided to end all the ties with him. “Earlier, he was booked Delhi Police in a case of fraud. I also informed his other female friend about him. I never took any money from him. He was harassing me and asking for money which he spent while we were in a relationship,” she told police.“A few days ago, he stopped me on a road and tried to take my scooty but I somehow managed to escape. I didn’t file any police complaint because he threatened me with dire consequences.”Police said Dixit is an engineering dropout and his father, who is an engineer and posted with the railways in Jhansi, claimed they also ended all ties with him due to his bad habits.
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