Ponda : Four persons from Shiroda and natives of Uttar Pradesh, burgled a general store in the Shiroda market area and then set the shop on fire to cover their act, leading to a loss of Rs 25,000 for the owner. The store was gutted while the culprits escaped with cash and goods.
The burglary occurred in the early hours of Monday at Shop No. 7, Amisha General Store, located on the ground floor of the panchayat building. Shop owner Amisha Naik was alerted by a local panch about the fire. By the time she arrived, firefighters were already battling the blaze and managed to save some material.
Initially, locals and the owner believed it to be a fire accident. However, missing cash from the drawer, along with biscuit boxes, cigar boxes and tobacco items, raised suspicion. On checking nearby CCTV footage, they found four suspects carrying material from the store. The footage showed four men staying in nearby rented premises, frequent visitors to the shop. One worked at a hotel beside the store, while another was a garbage rickshaw driver.
“They broke the rear door, stole cash and material, and then set the shop ablaze. There were items like firecrackers, oil boxes and other inflammable goods which fuelled the blaze, turning everything to ashes and even damaging the shop walls,” said Naik.
Based on the complaint and CCTV evidence, Ponda police arrested Mohit Kumar, Rohit Khare, Sagar Kumar and Mahesh Shetty, all residents of Shiroda and natives of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Police said the four were planning to flee the state when they were nabbed with locals’ help.
