A burglar who was thwarted in his attempts to loot a few houses in an apartment complex on Hindi Prachar Sabha Street in T. Nagar is suspected to have set fire to two cars and a bike parked on the premises before escaping.
Around 11.30 p.m. on Sunday, a resident on the second floor of Ravi Towers, an apartment complex on the street, heard the doorbell of his house ring. He opened the door and found a youngster fiddling with the doorbell.
“He claimed to have seen a wire extending from the second floor to the ground floor,” said Pavan, a resident on the first floor of the apartment. Soon after this, the suspect fled the apartment and on the way he allegedly assaulted the watchman of the complex and set fire to a bike.
“We were returning home around 1.30 a.m. on Monday and we spotted a fire in the parking lot. A closer look revealed that a bike had been set on fire,” said Pavan.
The fire was then put out by a group of residents. The police, after receiving an alert, reached the spot and started tracking down the youngster, who is suspected to have come back and set two more vehicles on fire.
“Around 4.30 a.m., I heard some noise. When I looked out of the window I saw smoke rising. I rushed down and saw my car and bike on fire. Another car kept near mine was also damaged,” said Pavan.
The fire service department received a call around 5.30 and two tenders from T. Nagar and Teynampet rushed to the spot. The fire was put out in about an hour.
The police team came back to the spot and continued their investigation. One of the investigating officers said there was ambiguity over the incident. “The watchman first said a youngster clad in jeans and t-shirt assaulted him before leaving the apartment complex. Later, he stated he saw the man coming in too,” said the officer.
The police suspect the watchman or someone known to him would have committed the crime.
There are eight flats in the complex, of which two are company guest houses and two are locked. Some of the residents lodged a complaint at the Pondy Bazaar police station.
A case has been registered and investigation is on, the police said.
