Former minister’s car was set ablaze

Vadodara: The fire in the car of former minister of state for Narmada and urban housing Yogesh Patel has turned out to be an act of arson. It was earlier believed that a short circuit may have caused the fire.
The fire was reported in the early hours on Thursday. Patel’s driver Gaurang Patel, however, filed a complaint of arson after CCTV footage from the area revealed that a man had set the car ablaze.
According to Gaurang, the car that was parked near Jubelibaug was found in flames by one Prerak Patel who informed Gaurang. Police and fire brigade personnel rushed to the spot and doused the fire, but not before extensive damage was done to the car.
Since nobody was seen around the car, it was believed that the fire would have taken place accidentally. CCTV footage collected by the Raopura police, however, revealed that a man had approached the car at 2.42am on Thursday. He set the car ablaze and left at around 2.47am.
After the new facts emerged in the case, Gaurang registered an offence against an unknown man for setting the car ablaze. Investigations revealed that the man seen in the CCTV footage was Mohammedanis Daruwala. He was nabbed by the police and arrested after he was found negative for Covid-19.
Investigation in the case has been handed over crime branch of the city police. Details that have emerged so far indicate that the accused had a criminal history. He is believed to be headstrong and unpredictable.
On December 28, Daruwala had set two cars ablaze in the Wadi area of the city after his brother had an altercation with the owner of one of the cars. Recently, his father had disowned him. He was involved in a couple of petty offences earlier too.