Fire in building; residents vent anger on policemen

A fire in Nupur tower near AUDA Garden in Anandnagar area on Sunday afternoon led to a big brawl between residents and police. The angry residents gheraoed the police while demanding closure of illegal shops operating in the building.

According to police, Dilpesh Thakkar, 35, resident of Nupur tower, lodged an FIR against Dinesh Ladali who runs an eatery in the building's commercial space on the ground floor. Thakkar said that a fire broke out at Ladali's eatery because of which the electricity of the whole building went off.

He said that there were over a dozen LPG cylinders at the eatery which could have sparked the fire in the building. Luckily, the fire was controlled on time. However, the incident irked the residents of the building and they gheraoed the police officials who had arrived at the spot for the investigation. Angry shopkeepers argued with the police for nearly an hour. They said that despite repeated complaints to the police, no action was taken against Ladali and he continued to run his business illegally.

HB Jamod, inspector at Anandnagar police station, said that an FIR had been lodged based on the complaint of one of the residents. He said that the complaints were logical as the fire could have been disastrous and assured the residents of appropriate action.