Miscreants set fire to cars under flyover

The Western Express Highway was witness to a spectacle as unidentified miscreants set fire to 22 vehicles that had been parked under the Magathane flyover at Borivli, on Sunday morning at around 1 am.

Charred: Officials inspect the burnt vehicles parked under Magathane flyover at Borivli yesterday. 22 vehicles were allegedly set on fire by unidentified miscreants in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Pic/Nimesh Dave

The vehicles had been seized by the EOW after a case of cheating was registered against a local travel company. An official from the Kasturba Marg police station said, "The firm used to buy the vehicles by paying installments to the bank. They then used to sell these vehicles to other customers and take full payment from them."

Of the 22 vehicles, around 13 are four-wheelers while the remaining are two-wheelers and three-wheelers. When there were problems with the installments, the banks seized the vehicles and a case was registered by the EOW, which is still going on in the court.

Senior PI Bharat Worlikar said, "The vehicles had been parked under the flyer since 2010, and most were in deteriorating conditions. We still don't know the reason why the vehicles were set on fire. All vehicles are expensive and we still have to determine their value."

ACP Sunil Deshmukh, from the Kasturba Marg police station, added, "We are still investigating whether the fire was accidental or whether someone set them on fire. We detained some for questioning, and also recorded statements of the people staying nearby."

None have yet come ahead to lay a claim to the vehicles. The police are scanning CCTV footage to get some leads in the case.

No parking under flyovers
Following a recent order passed by the Bombay High Court, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) does not allow parking under flyovers. Parking under flyovers is a violation of traffic rules, according to the order. Despite the order, these vehicles were being parked under the Magathane flyover.u00a0