Team Herald
MAPUSA/PERNEM: Five vehicles – three two-wheelers and two four-wheelers – were destroyed in two separate fire incidents, reported in Mapusa and Pernem, respectively.
In the Pernem incident, an Eco Maruti van parked near the civil court caught fire at around 12.30 pm, on Thursday. Its owner Shankar Yellapa said that the loss was Rs 2.5 lakh.
The fire from the Maruti vehicle also engulfed a Bollero jeep parked close to the former. Its owner Nagesh Patil said that he suffered a loss Rs 3 lakh.
Fire personnel who attended to the emergency said that a short circuit in the Maruti vehicle caused the fire.
In the Mapusa incident, three two-wheelers were gutted in fire near Primary School at Khorlim, at around 2 am.
Hearing a loud blast, people living in the vicinity rushed out of their homes and noticed the vehicles on fire. They immediately informed the Mapusa police and fire services. However, before the fire services could reach the spot, the vehicles were destroyed in the flames.
The owners have complained to Mapusa police alleging that someone deliberately set the vehicles on fire.
The Mapusa police have conducted a panchanama and investigating the arson angle.
