The fire near Alpha hotel in Secunderabad on Tuesday was believed to be an accident, but it turns out to be a case of arson by two youngsters in drunken state, thanks to a video footage from surveillance cameras.
Interestingly, one of the two detained in the case is a son of a police officer. Fire broke out in two cloth shops near Secunderabad railway station, opposite Alpha hotel, around 4 a.m.
Fire tenders were called in and it took over an hour to put out the blaze. By then, two shops were completely gutted. Another fire accident was reported in a shop a few yards away, but closer to Market police station. The police would have taken the fire mishap as a routine accident, as such incidents are commonplace during summer.
But their past year’s experience made them suspect that something was amiss. Two days ahead of Hanuman Jayanti in 2015, two died after unidentified persons set them on fire while they were asleep by roadside at different places in Secunderabad.
Police were clueless initially, but later suspected if the murders were in any way connected to the religious procession to be taken out two days later. Eventually, they identified the killers and remanded them in judicial custody.
“With three days to go for Hanuman Jayanti, the fire accident near Alpha hotel reminded us of the last year’s case and we started collecting video footages of surveillance cameras in the area,” a police officer told The Hindu .
The two youngsters detained by the police were seen moving in the locality minutes before the fire accident and torching the two cloth shops. They identified the persons seen in the video footage. “One was the son of an assistant commandant-rank police officer working in a reserve battalion,” a police officer said.
They reportedly admitted to have indulged in the arson under the influence of alcohol.
Police officer’s
son among
the two
detained
