90 cars, bikes burnt in Pune

Vandal targeted cars, bikes, cycles on Sinhgad Rd in Pune

At least 90 bikes, cars and cycles in four different residential societies were set on fire by unknown persons in Pune early on Sunday morning, leaving locals stricken with panic and fear. The police has pegged the damage to be around Rs 50 lakhs and detained a suspect for questioning. A sketch of the suspect has also been prepared.

According to the police, the incident has occurred in the residential societies on the Sinhgad Road area at around 4 am. When residents spotted the smoke, they called the police control room, which sought help from the fire brigade.

“We received a call from our control room at around 3.57 am after which we rushed to the spot where a bike parked in front of Dominos Pizza was burning and the fire went up to the second floor,” said Prabhakar Umratker, station officer of Anand Nagar fire station, adding, “We got one more call from Swami-narayan Apartment in the same locality about a similar incident. We sought more manpower and went ahead. When we went ahead, we saw that many motorcycles were burning. After a few minutes, more people from the nearby buildings, Akshay Glory Apartments and Ram Heights, asked for help as the cars and bikes parked around these two buildings were also set on fire.”

The fire brigade head office at this time deployed more assistance from Erandwane and Kothrud fire stations. Meanwhile, yet another incident were reported in Avadhut Arcade. The incidents had taken place in around one kilometre area on Sinhgad Road.

Sr PI B.L. Kashid of Sinhgad Road police station said, “The incident took place early in the morning that damaged around 77 bikes and eight cars. The suspect himself was travelling on a bike. It appears that the suspect is either of unsound mind or he might have done this to create fear. However, we have recovered CCTV footage from two locations and a sketch of a suspect has prepared.”

A resident of Sinhgad road Prashant Badhe (29) has filed complaint with Sinhgad Road police station for damage of property across the area. According to a youth living in the area, the fire that broke out was huge and the blaze went up to the sixth floor.

Meanwhile, locals suspect that it is yet another incident like the previous one in the Dhanakawadi area, which saw the involvement of anti-social elements.