Ludhiana man torches 3 food carts to boost son’s business, held

The local police on Friday arrested a man for allegedly torching three food carts, leading to the explosion in two liquified petroleum gad (LPG) cylinders on Bhamian Road, officials said.
The Division Number 7 police said the accused was ‘drunk’ at the time of the incident five days ago and did to help his son’s business interests.
The accused was identified as Sarabjeet Singh alias Lovi of Dharampura, Shingar Road.
According to the police, the accused’s son ran a food cart in the same area and as other food cards attract more customers compared to his son, the accused nursed a rivalry against them.
Police recovered a Maruti Suzuki Omni Eeco van and half a bottle of petrol from his possession.
Division Number 7 station-house officer (SHO) sub-inspector Bhupinder Singh said that at night on October 13, the accused set three carts on fire, which led to an explosion in two LPG gas cylinders. The Division number 7 police station registered a first-information report (FIR) following a complaint by Gurmeet Singh, a street food vendor in the area.
Singh and his brother own three street food carts in Chaupati Market on Bhamian Road.
The complainant said Sarabjeet arrived at their food cart around 9.30 pm on October 13 in an ‘inebirated’ condition and began causing disturbance and using abusive language.
The complainant said they had a brief physical altercation.
After locals intervened, the accused left. The complainant said he and his brother wrapped up their business for the day and went to the civil hospital for a medical examination.
They filed a complaint with the police against Sarabjeet for the earlier altercation.
He added that on their way home, Sarabjit and his aides again confronted them and allegedly threatened and assaulted them near Dharampura. Singh said they managed to escape the second attack and decided to follow up with the police the next morning.
“Around 3 am, a newspaper vendor who is one of our regular customers noticed that our food carts were on fire and informed us. We rushed to the scene. Normally, we take the LPG cylinders home at the end of the day but as we had gone to the hospital, we left them in the carts that day,” said Gurmeet.
The SHO added that police registered a case under sections 115 (2), 324 (5), 351 (5), 326 (F) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and section 5 of the Prevention of Damage to Public and Private Property Act.