Drunk youth sets 27 vehicles on fire near public loo in Pune

Charred remains of the two-wheelers that the accused set ablaze

Pune: A drunk youth allegedly set 27 vehicles in his neighbourhood on fire in the wee hours of Sunday. The police said he torched the two-wheelers parked near a public toilet because he was irritated at the lack of space to move about due to the vehicles. The incident took place around 1.30 am near Janata Vasat area, which falls under the Dattawadi police station. A case has been registered against Nilesh alias Zabya Hari Patil, 25.

There was tension in the area around 1.45 am after news of the fire spread. The fire bridge was alerted, and officers doused the blaze in 15 minutes.

Senior inspector of Dattawadi police station Anil Patil said, "Nilesh is a mechanic and lives in the same area. Of the 27 vehicles he set on fire, 18 are completely charred. It seems that he went home drunk but his family didn't open the door. He then went to a public toilet to attend nature's call."

"After he came out, he saw the closely parked vehicles around and got annoyed at the space crunch. He removed petrol from one of the motorcycles and poured it on all the vehicles there and threw a lit matchstick on them. After that, he just sat right there, watching the fire. We detained and questioned him and he confessed to the crime," the officer added.