The damaged two-wheelers

PUNE: An autorickshaw and 12 two-wheelers were damaged after a man set the vehicles ablaze during the wee hours of Sunday in the parking area of Vighnaharta Society close to Dandekar bridge. A local resident had allegedly found the man drinking alcohol in the parking area and raised an objection, which led to the incident.

The Dattawadi police have arrested the man Gopal Bandoba Gawali (28), who lives in the same building as a tenant. Vicky Bhaskar Gholap (25), a resident of the society, told TOI, “My scooter was completely damaged in the incident. At around 2am, I heard loud noises in the staircase and from the ground floor. I rushed downstairs and saw the vehicles burning. I had bought the scooter in November last year.”

Gholap said that smoke permeated in the building and a majority of the residents rushed out as they were unable to breathe in their homes.

Laxman Patil also found his motorcycle burning. “All residents bought buckets of water from their homes and one of us called up the city fire brigade officials. We made every attempt to extinguish the fire. But it was difficult to bring the blaze under control because the flames had reached the vehicles’ fuel tanks,” Patil said.

Patil had purchased his vehicle only 18 months ago. “Now, I don’t know what to do,” he asked.

Aditya Thakur, who lives on the second floor of the building, said, “I lost my scooter in the incident. The man, who has been taken away by the police, rents an apartment in the same building. One of the local residents found him drinking liquor at around 2am and took objection. In a fit of rage, the man set the vehicles ablaze,” he said.

The local residents said that due to the fire, the meter boxes and electric cables also sustained damage, which eventually led to disruption of power supply.

Senior police inspector Devidas Gheware of Dattawadi police station rushed to the spot and detained the accused. According to the police, Gawali is a casual worker and reached the building site late in the night. A police officer said that Gawali sat on one of the vehicles and opened the liquor bottle when the local resident raised an objection.

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