20160429 India Five hurt as man sets village office on fire
India Apr 28 2016 “Office bldg.”
Dead : dead 0 or unknown Burnout : 0 or unknown Injured : injured 0 or unknown
Five hurt as man sets village office on fire
Updated: 2016-04-29-05:43
An unidentified man on Thursday walked into the Vellarada village office and set it on fire with the staff still inside and escaped after shutting the door from outside. According to the staff at the village office, the man, wearing a helmet and an overcoat, entered the office with a parcel in his hand around 11am.
He placed it on the village officer’s table. He apparently told them he will teach them a lesson and dropped the box onto the floor. Something, which smelled like petrol flowed out as the box broke open. The man then threw a lighted match stick on to the floor before rushing out.
Among revenue officials who suffered burn injuries in the incident are village officer Mohanan, 51, Venugopal, 45, Prabhakaran Nair, 43, and Krishnakumar, 41. A visitor, Ishaaq, 78, was also injured. All of them have been admitted to the Medical College Hospital. A part-time sweeper, Vijayamma who was also in the office escaped unhurt.
“We saw a man in helmet walking out of the village office. Both his legs were on fire. We directed him to a near by toilet to douse the fire. Soon, we heard screams and saw smoke coming out from the office,” said Chitralekha, an attendant of the the nearby homeo clinic. She said she rushed to help those inside the office and by the time the man returned from the toilet and fled on his bike.
Vijayaraj, an electrician who was passing by said he heard screams from the village office and noticing that its doors were shut, he ran to a shop selling firewood, grabbed an axe and broke ventilation of the office toilet. The staff were pulled out through the ventilaton. Venugopal, who was trapped behind his desk was saved after breaking open the front doors of the office.
The villagers of Vellarada have floated various theories on the possible motive behind the attack. Some blame quarry mafia while others say dejected citizens, who have been denied justice by the officials at the village office, might be behind the incident. However, police sources said they suspect that a Tamil Nadu native was involved in the attack. He was one among the three parties involved in a property dispute that was pending before high court, the source added. “Just three days ago he had turned up at the office and created a ruckus,” he said.
Web Source: THE TIMES OF INDIA
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/Five-hurt-as-man-sets-village-office-on-fire/articleshow/52034047.cms