Fire at prayer hall, landlord held

Police say he wanted to implicate his neighbours

In a bizarre case, a prayer hall in Vidyaranyapura was set on fire by a 67-year-old landlord to implicate his neighbours with whom he had a row over another property.

The fire in Taberah Full Gospel destroyed the prayer hall. Investigations led police to the landlord, Krishnappa, who had rented out the second floor of his building to the Gospel for 11 years.

Krishnappa is named in a case of attempt to murder in 2014 for attacking Yallappa and Sharadamma, an elderly couple and his neighbours, whose property he wanted to buy.

Another neighbour, Fayaz, was a witness and had given a detailed version of the event to the police.

Police said that an enraged Krishnappa plotted revenge against Fayaz.

On Saturday morning, he tied the hands and legs of his security guard Balakrishna and set the prayer hall on fire. He had tutored Balakrishna to blame Fayaz and others for the crime.

Krishnappa, who stays in the ground floor, pretended to notice the fire and alerted the police.

He untied Balakrishna and narrated the entire incident to the police. During questioning, Balakrishna accused Fayaz and others of tying him up and setting the prayer hall on fire.

After questioning Fayaz, police again questioned Balakrishna.

This time, Balakrishna revealed the truth. Police arrested Krishnappa and are on the lookout for two others, who helped him set fire to the prayer hall.