Delhi: 1 held for ‘deliberate arson’ in Govindpuri incident that killed 3

One of the accused arrested in connection with the alleged deliberate arson at a residential building in Govindpuri area of southeast Delhi that claimed three lives is a historysheeter who had returned from jail only last month, police said on Monday.

The accused, identified as Niranjan, is a declared bad character of the Govindpuri area and has a long criminal record. His brother Rajkumar is also involved in criminal cases, they said.

“Niranjan was released from jail in the first week of May and was allegedly involved in planning the incident. He also had an ongoing rivalry with a local man known as “Pahadi” over dominance in the area, leading to several confrontations in the past,” a police officer said, requesting anonymity.

The officer said Niranjan was suspected of involvement in the narcotics trade.

“Another accused, Sarita, is the person who conducted reconnaissance of the house and showed the scooter of one Deepak multiple times to the juvenile girl. She took her to the house on the day of the incident on her scooter and handed over a bottle of petrol and matchsticks to set Deepak’s scooter ablaze,” the officer said.

During the investigation, police got to know that Sarita had lent around Rs 80,000 to Deepak and was asking him to return, but Deepak failed.

To teach him a lesson, she decided to set her scooter ablaze. The entire incident took a U-turn after CCTV footage of a neighbour showed a girl entering the house just before the blaze and running away.

The police have arrested the juvenile girl, Sarita, Niranjan and Niranjan’s brother Rajkumar.

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The fire broke out around 2.20 am on June 12 in a multi-storey residential building in Tughlakabad Extension, southeast Delhi, killing Pankaj Pandey, 28, his sister Sonia, 20, and his maternal grandmother Sushila Devi, 70, while injuring eight others.

The police said the footage became a crucial lead in the investigation, prompting them to examine the incident as an act of arson instead of an accidental fire.

The Police initially registered a case under Sections 287 (negligent conduct with respect to fire) and 106(1) (causing death by negligence) of the BNS after the incident.

Following the findings, police added sections of criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, attempt to commit culpable homicide, mischief by fire and lurking house-trespass by night under the BNS.

Police said further investigation is underway.