A youth allegedly set afire a dairy-cum-bakery shop in Dabwali village of Haryana’s Sirsa district late Monday night after the shop owner refused to give him goods on credit.
The incident was captured on CCTV cameras installed outside the shop. Damage worth around Rs 4 lakh was reported in the incident, which occurred in the shop located near a gurdwara close to the main bus stand on National Highway-9.
According to shop owner Sukhi, a youth from village came to the shop at the closing time and demanded goods on credit. When the shopkeeper declined, an argument broke out between the two.
Sukhi alleged that the youth left the shop at that time, but returned later and tried to set the shop on fire with petrol. However, he could not succeed.
He returned again with diesel and set the shop ablaze before fleeing from the spot. The shop owner said he received a phone call around 11.30 pm informing him about the fire.
“When we reached the spot and opened the shutter, the shop was engulfed in flames with thick smoke coming out of it,” he said.
Locals helped in controlling the blaze, but by then a large quantity of goods and equipment had been destroyed.
Furniture, an LED television, bakery items, two deep freezers, a milk machine and a whipping machine were damaged in fire, causing an estimated loss of Rs 4 lakh, the shop owner said.
A police team reached the spot after receiving information and inspected the site.
The police said a statement of the shop owner had been recorded and efforts were underway to identify the suspect with the help of CCTV footage and to arrest him.
