Fire breaks out at vehicle dump in northeast Delhi
The police are trying to find out if any of the gutted vehicles were related to an important crime registered at the police stations in the outer district of Delhi Police.
At least 200 two-wheelers and 45 four-wheelers were gutted in a fire that broke out on a plot used by the Delhi Police to dump vehicles seized during investigation in the early hours on Monday, officers aware of the matter said.
They said that the plot is located behind Wazirabad police training school (PTS), near Sonia Vihar in north-east Delhi. The officers added that the gutted vehicles were case property pertaining to various cases that are under investigation. The officers added that no casualty was reported in the fire incident.
While the city police said that their initial count showed that 200 motorcycles and 45 four-wheelers were parked on the plot, the fire department estimated that the number of damaged vehicles was nearly 450.
Vehicles seized during investigation are parked at various malkhanas (stores) located across the city. They are not disposed of till the court takes decides the case.
The open malkhana (storehouse) of the Delhi Police is spread in about 500 square yards of vacant government land, Delhi Fire Services (DFS) chief Atul Garg said.
“The counting of the gutted vehicle is still on. Fire officials on the spot estimated there were nearly 450 vehicles parked at the plot,” said deputy commissioner of police (north-east) Joy Tirkey.
The police are also trying to find out if any of the gutted vehicles were related to an important crime registered at the police stations in the outer district of Delhi Police.
According to DCP Tirkey, the Sonia Vihar police station received a call around 12.30am on Monday reporting a fire in the vehicle pit behind PTS Wazirabad. A police team rushed to the fire spot. Six fire tenders reached the spot and began their firefighting operation. The fire was extinguished by 2.30am. But by that time, most of the vehicles parked at the spot were damaged.
“A case under the appropriate sections of Indian Penal Code has been registered at the Sonia Vihar police station. The cause of the fire is being ascertained. Forensic experts inspected the incident spot and lifted exhibits for examination,” said DCP Tirkey.
“The incident is being probed from all possible angles. We are checking if it was an accident or orchestrated by some anti-social elements. The strong wind on Sunday night and inflammable material in the vehicles helped the fire quickly. Although the fire was doused in two hours, it gutted nearly 250 vehicles,” said a second senior police officer.
In May 2018, nearly 150 vehicles were gutted when a fire broke out in Delhi Police’s auto pond in Pushp Vihar area in south Delhi. More than 2,100 cars, two-wheelers, auto-rickshaws, trucks and buses – confiscated by the city police in various crimes and accidents -- were rusting away centralised automobile warehouse.