NEW DELHI: The fire that tore through a five-storey residential building in southeast Delhi’s Tughlaqabad Extension early Friday, killing three members of a family and injuring five others, was not an accident or caused by a short circuit, but a deliberate act of arson, allegedly over a monetary dispute with one of the tenants of the building, police probe has revealed. Three people – Sarita (27), and two brothers, Niranjan (33) and Rajkumar (27) – have been arrested while a minor girl, aged 17, has been apprehended.
The blaze broke out at 2. 24am on June 12 in Street No. 1, Madhyam Marg. The victims included Pankaj Pandey (28), his sister Soni (20) and their maternal grandmother Sushila Devi (70). Deepak, the tenant whose scooter was the target of the arson plot, was away in Agra. However, his wife Mumtaz was admitted to the ICU at Safdarjung hospital while his two sisters-in-law, Seema (16) and Kareena (18),were admitted to AIIMS.Initially, police registered a case under BNS sections related to negligent handling of fire and causing death by negligence. However, the direction of the probe changed after investigators examined CCTV footage and spotted a girl entering the premises shortly before the fire erupted. It led them to identify and apprehend a teenager from Govindpuri, who said she had been asked by Sarita to set fire to a scooter belonging to Deepak, a bike taxi driver who resided on the building’s fifth floor.Sarita allegedly provided the minor with petrol and a matchbox and asked her to target the two-wheeler. Police suspect she conducted a recce of the area for around a week, identifying both the building and Deepak’s scooter beforehand.On the day of the incident, she allegedly took the minor on her scooty to a spot near the building, showed her the vehicle and handed over petrol and matches. After the scooter was set ablaze, the two fled.Police sources said CCTV cameras captured the woman and the minor travelling on the scooter before and after the incident. The girl was also captured entering the building at 2. 22am. Investigators traced the vehicle through its registration number, which led them to the suspects.During questioning, Sarita claimed she had acted at the behest of Niranjan and Rajkumar, who are Deepak’s cousins. She alleged Deepak had borrowed Rs 40,000-Rs 50,000 from her but failed to return the money despite repeated demands over the past few months. Police sources said she was allegedly involved in a relationship with one of the brothers and had asked him to persuade Deepak to repay the amount. When the money was not returned, she allegedly conspired to have Deepak’s scooter set ablaze.Cops are verifying Sarita’s claims about the loan and also probing if she threatened Deepak that she would set his scooter ablaze if he failed to return it.Speaking to TOI, Deepak’s brother alleged the motive went beyond a monetary dispute. “Deepak had advised our cousin against getting involved with Sarita as he was married and had three children, which is why she plotted to take revenge,” he claimed, adding, “Now he is being questioned while his wife is battling for her life in the ICU.”On the day of the incident, Deepak told TOI he had narrowly escaped as he was not in the city. He had recounted how he had guided his wife Mumtaz to safety over the phone as the blaze spread. Mumtaz, however, went back inside in an attempt to rescue her two sisters and later their pet cat.Following the findings, police have added sections related to criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide, attempt to commit culpable homicide, mischief by fire and lurking house-trespass by night under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Sarita, Niranjan and Rajkumar have been remanded in two-day police custody.
