SUV, 3 bikes torched in separate cases in Pune

PUNE: A businessman from Dalvinagar, Ambegaon spent around Rs 5 lakh to modify his sports utility vehicle (SUV). Around 1am on Thursday, the vehicle was reduced to ashes, after some unidentified miscreants set fire to it. They used the petrol from one of the motorcycles owned by the businessman.
One more SUV and four two-wheelers were parked in the complainant Parashuram Dalvi's bungalow on Jambhulwadi Road.Before the fire could reach these vehicles, the burning SUV shifted into neutral gear and dashed against a wall, said sub-inspector Subhash Mahale of the Bharati Vidyapeeth police station.
The smoke emanating from the burning vehicle woke up Dalvi and his family from their sleep. "They immediately alerted the police. Before we could reach the bungalow, the complainant and others had managed to douse the fire," Mahale said.
When police checked the other vehicles, they found that someone had removed petrol from one of the motorcycles to set the SUV on fire. "There were no security guard and CCTV cameras installed at Dalvi's bungalow," he said.
Police suspect that someone had deliberately set the SUV on fire. "We are investigating whether it was because of some rivalry," he added.
Three motorcycles torched, narrow escape for family
Three motorcycles were destroyed in a fire in Punawale on Thursday, only 45 minutes after the SUV was set on fire. The complainant Deepak Gaikwad, his wife and two children had to escape from the back door of the house as the fire had spread to the main door and window panes.
S A Jadhav, assistant inspector of the Wakad police station said that around 1.45am, Gaikwad's wife Rupali woke-up as the smoke had filled their house and she had difficulty breathing. "She immediately alerted Gaikwad and their two children. When they tried opening the main door, they found it was on fire," he said.
Gaikwad and his family came out of the back door and found that someone had torched their motorcycle parked in the front of the house. "Their neighbours Prashant Devkar and Haridas Avghade's vehicles were also on fire," Jadhav said. The reason behind the arson attack is not known. We are investigating further, he added.
Sub-inspector Subhash Mahale said that both the incidents are not connected.
Panic in Ambegaon and Punawale:
The incidents of fire brought fear among the residents of Punewale as it reminded them of the arson case that took place on June 28. As many as 77 two-wheelers, eight cars and seven bicycles were set ablaze in a span of one-and-half-hour at a pizza outlet and five housing societies, all located along the five-km stretch from Anandnagar on Sinhagad Road to Narhe via the Sun City Road. A 33-year-old man from Vadgaon Budruk was arrested for his involvement in the case.