Miscreant sets house on fire using ‘petrol bomb’

Vadodara: A miscreant tried to set a house in Navapura on fire by sneaking inside a petrol bomb on Monday midnight.
Family of Poonam Solanki, who works as a labourer in Gujarat Engineering Research Institute (GERI), was sleeping inside the house when the unidentified person passed the bottle containing inflammable liquid and a wick through iron grill at the entrance of his house. Solanki told TOI that it was a petrol bomb made using a small plastic bottle.

Solanki told police that his family members had slept off as they had returned from a four-day long holiday late in the evening. Solanki’s wife Jashoda woke up when she heard some noise near the door. Jashoda shouted asking for the person at the door, but she did not get any response.

Meanwhile, the person passed the lit the petrol bomb’s wick through the iron grill and fled. The bomb exploded and a few valuables placed near the door caught fire. Seeing the fire, Jashoda shouted waking up others in the house. The family members doused the fire by pouring water.

Police said that Solanki’s neighbours who were sitting out of their houses had seen a man running in the direction of a nearby meat shop. But due to darkness nobody could see his face.

Cops said that they have sought details of mobile phone towers in the area. “The accused’s mobile phone would have got registered in the mobile phone tower. As of now we are trying to track him down through that,” said inspector D K Rao of Navapura police station.

Solanki said that he did not suspect any person as he did not have any enmity with anyone.