Gujarat: Man held for burning down huts after residents refuse to work for him

A man was held by the Gujarat Police for allegedly setting ablaze more than a dozen huts in Kutch district, the police said

A man was held by the Gujarat Police for allegedly setting ablaze more than a dozen huts in Kutch district after those living in them refused to work for him for free, police said on Monday, reported the PTI.

According to the PTI, as many as 40 persons living in the huts managed to escape the fire in time but their household items were gutted, officials said.

The incident took place in Anjar village in the early hours of Sunday and the accused, identified as Mohammad Rafiq Kumbhar, was arrested for attempt to murder, criminal intimidation and arson, Deputy Superintendent of Police Mukesh Chaudhary told reporters, as per the PTI.

As per the complainant, Kumbhar used to threaten labourers to work for him for free, and poured inflammable liquid and set their huts on fire in a bid to kill them after they refused to give in to his pressure, the news agency reported.

Twelve families living in these huts managed to escape in time but household items were gutted and also resulted in the deaths of a cat and seven kittens, resident Dinesh Jogi told reporters, the PTI reported on Monday.

Kumbhar had come to the site on Saturday night asking them to work but the residents of the huts refused, after which the arson incident took place some hours later, Jogi alleged.

As per officials, the blaze, which was touching electricity transmission lines going above the huts and caused an explosion, was doused by the Anjar fire team.

Meanwhile, the police on Monday arrested three more persons in connection with the alleged attack some international students in the Gujarat University hostel premises for offering namaz near the hostel block, the crime branch said, according to the PTI.

The city crime branch on Sunday nabbed two persons - Hitesh Mevada and Bharat Patel - and handed over them to the Gujarat University police station for further legal process, it said in a release.

On Monday, the crime branch arrested three more persons, Kshitij Pandey (22), Jitendra Patel (31) and Sahil Dudhatiya (21), all residents of Ahmedabad, and handed them over to the local police for further probe, taking the total number of the arrested accused to five so far, the release said, as per the news agency.

(with PTI inputs)

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