The New Indian Express ·
CCTV footage reveals suspected arson in Gujarat’s textile market fire incident; Rs 24 crore worth of stock destroyed
AHMEDABAD: What began as a devastating textile market fire in Gujarat's Surat City has now turned into a suspected arson case, as CCTV footage reportedly shows an unidentified man setting cloth parcels on fire inside Shyam Sangini Textile Market.
The blaze, which broke out late on September 8 near Kumbharia crossroads in Saroli, raged for nearly 50 hours before firefighters brought it fully under control.
According to police sources, a detailed examination of CCTV footage revealed a suspicious sequence of events.
At around 8:57 PM on September 8, an unidentified man reportedly entered the market carrying a shoulder bag, with a white handkerchief covering his face.
Later, at approximately 12:20 AM, he reached the sixth-floor passageway, where cloth parcels were lying. The footage allegedly shows the man taking a bottle-like object from his bag, spraying a flammable liquid on the textile parcels and setting them ablaze.
Subsequently, as the fire intensified, he reportedly fled the spot within four minutes, leaving the blaze to spread through the market.
Meanwhile, a shop owner reportedly noticed the fire at around 12:41 AM and immediately alerted the police control room through emergency number 112.
Following the alert, a PCR van and fire brigade team rushed to the market. However, the flames had already intensified, spreading from the passageway to shops numbered 601 through 617 on the sixth floor.
As a result, firefighters faced a major challenge in containing the blaze inside the textile market. After a prolonged firefighting operation, the fire department managed to bring the blaze fully under control by the evening of September 9.
Nevertheless, the fire, smoke and water used during the operation caused extensive damage to the textile stock. Preliminary estimates indicate that textile goods worth more than Rs 24 crore belonging to four major traders were destroyed in the fire.
The sixth-floor shops reportedly suffered extensive damage, with large quantities of cloth stock reduced to ashes. The incident also resulted in injury to one firefighter during the firefighting operation.
Surat Fire Officer Ranjit Singh told the media that the police investigation had uncovered footage showing an unidentified person spraying liquid on clothes and setting them on fire.
He added that the fire broke out on September 8, took nearly 50 hours to extinguish and involved more than 150 firefighters. One fireman was also injured during the operation.
Following the incident, ASI, who reached the scene, filed a complaint at Surat City’s Saroli Police Station. Based on the complaint, police registered a case against the unidentified suspect under Section 326(g) of the BNS, relating to mischief by fire or explosive substance, and Section 54 of the BNS, as stated in the complaint.
Police are now working to identify the suspect, trace his movements before and after the incident, and determine whether personal enmity, a business dispute or a wider conspiracy was behind the suspected arson.
