Madgavkars woke up on Wednesday to hear the shocking news of separate cases of arson in the commercial capital as miscreants set afire a brand new Mahindra Xylo vehicle, a minibus and four fruit handcarts.
Both the incidents occurred in the wee hours of Wednesday between 2.30 am and 3 am, causing losses worth over Rs 9 lakh, even as the Margao police was quick to put at rest rumours that the incident may have communal overtones. The police further said there’s no link whatsoever between the incident at Housing Board and the fire at the Power House.
While the Mahindra vehicle and the minibus were set afire at the Margao Housing Board, Gogol, the handcarts were all located near the Power House road junction.
The Xylo vehicle owned the Sabir Khan family was completely gutted in the fire, while the front portion of the minibus was damaged.
Recalls Sabir: “My family woke up to a loud sound at around 2.30 am. We rushed out of the house only to find the two-month old Xylo vehicle in flames. The Fire Services was immediately intimated”.
By the time the fire brigade arrived at the spot, the vehicle was completely damaged. Sabir said he has no enmity with anyone and declined to name anyone as suspects in the case.
His neighbour, Hamid and his family members were intimated of the fire to their minibus parked on the roadside. “I came rushing out towards the bus and found the vehicle on fire. My family
(Continued on page 10)
members and others joined in the firefighting after I raised the alarm,” Hamid said.
Unlike Sabir, Hamid suspected that miscreants might have set the vehicles on fire just to teach them a lesson in view of the dispute relating to the Masjid committee.
Meanwhile, four handcarts loaded with fruits and tender coconuts were set on fire by miscreants near the Aquem Power House traffic junction.
Mamsaab Gadi informed that the incident occurred between 2 am and 6 am and have destroyed goods worth Rs 90,000.
Margao PI Santosh Desai said the police have registered two separate cases of arson in respect of the two incidents. “The police will investigate the Housing board cases from all angles. We would see if miscreants played mischief since the vehicles were parked on the road, or whether the incident was an outcome of any dispute in the Masjid,” PI Desai added.
Replying to a question, he said both Sabir and Hamid have not yet provided the names of any suspects involved in the incident.
[Source]
