PIONEER NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
The police arrested three young men for allegedly setting a restaurant on fire in the Vikasnagar area of Dehradun district after they were asked not to play Holi there on March 14. The accused have been identified as Sagar Singh (25), Dinesh Singh Bisht (22) and Ankush Katariya (23).
According to Dehradun senior superintendent of police Ajai Singh, restaurant owner Rahul Kumar, a resident of Mehuwala, Vikasnagar, filed a complaint stating that a dispute broke out at his restaurant, Anand Vatika, during a Holi celebration. The police were informed and arrived at the scene, where they mediated the situation and had the restaurant vacated before locking it. “However, according to the complainant, a group of 20-25 people arrived approximately 20 minutes later and vandalised the restaurant before setting it on fire.
The Police and Fire department responded but due to the thatched structure and strong winds, the fire could not be controlled. The fire destroyed utensils, gas cylinders and a motorcycle inside the restaurant,” Singh said.
The SSP stated that based on the complaint, a case was registered against Sagar Singh and Himanshu Sharma, along with unidentified persons, under relevant sections. He said, “During the investigation, CCTV footage and witness statements led to the identification of additional suspects, including Ayush alias Golu and Rahul, both residents of Fatehpur Grant, Sahaspur in Dehradun. A police team tracked the suspects and in the wee hours of Monday, three of them were arrested near the Asan Barrage, close to the RTO office in Dhaliyapur.” The SSP said that efforts are ongoing to apprehend the remaining accused involved in the incident.
