3 cars go up in flames in garage in Chennai

CHENNAI: Three cars parked in a workshop went up in flames in Vysarpadi on Monday night. Police have not ruled out sabotage in the incident and are investigating the reason behind the fire. Police said the garage is run by Raphel, 54, who had employed more than ten people to repair cars. The workshop accepted both government and private vehicles for repair.
Raphel closed the garage at 10pm on Monday and went home. Watchman Ramu, 58, noticed three cars in the garage on fire around 1.30am and informed his employer. He also informed the fire and rescue service personnel, who reached the spot and tried to put out the fire, but by then the vehicles had been completely damaged.
Police said while two cars belonged to the state agriculture department, the third was owned by a businessman from Gummidipoondi. They said the cars were totally worth about Rs 17 lakh.
The fire department officials suspect that the fire could have started in one car and spread to the others. Police are trying to find out whether it was the handiwork of some miscreants who reportedly had a tiff with Raphel a couple of days ago.