Mumbai: A man set fire to a temple, killing three, after a small fight with the mandal chief | Mumbai News

MUMBAI: A fire in a temple in Charkop that left three dead in the early hours of Sunday has turned out to be a well-planned case of murder. Policeman on Monday he arrested a 20-year-old resident, Bhavesh Chandurkar, and detained a 17-year-old boy. Investigators said that Chandurkar disagreed with the temple president, Yuvraj Pawar (28). The trigger was an incident in Christmas, when Pawar hit Chandurkar (20) for a trivial issue.
Early Sunday Charkop police and the fire department were informed of a fire in Shri Sai Sachhidanand Mitra Mandalthe temple in Bandar Pakhadi. Pawar died on the spot due to severe burns along with his co-worker, Subhash Khode (28). His friend, Mahesh Gupta (24) succumbed during treatment in a hospital. Forensic experts said a cooler exploded due to the presence of a flammable substance. “This alerted us to the possibility of arson,” said Additional Commissioner Dilip Sawant.

The police investigated the neighborhood and learned that Pawar and Chandurkar had been at odds for a year and a half. Once, Pawar had attacked Chandurkar with a gun and left him with a bloody nose. But the latter’s family dissuaded him from filing a police report out of fear. Residents told police that Pawar would fight Chandurkar over petty matters and abuse him. Pawar told Chandurkar to bring him cigarettes on December 25, and when he refused, Pawar beat him.
“Chandurkar wanted to teach Pawar a lesson and conspired with his teenage friend,” Inspector Ghanshyam Nair said. Chandurkar was an office worker with a materials supplier, and his employer had given him a scooter. He took five liters of gasoline out of the vehicle and put it in a can. With the help of the teenager, he kept an eye on Pawar. On Sunday night, after Pawar, Khode, and Gupta went to sleep at the temple, Chandurkar poured the liquid into the temple and struck a match around 4 a.m.
The gasoline came into contact with the cooler that exploded and burned Chandurkar’s hands and feet.
Chandurkar and the teenager fled to the latter’s home in Kandivli (E). From there, Chandurkar moved to his aunt’s house in Vaijapur, Aurangabad. Police located him through technical surveillance and arrested him on Monday. He has been treated for minor burns while the minor has been sent to an observation home in Dongri.
Chandurkar told police that he only wanted to scald Pawar’s limbs. “Chandurkar and the teenager knew that Pawar was not alone in the temple and they were hurting three people,” Sawant said. Chandurkar provided the police with a detailed timetable, which will be part of the evidence. Investigators have also accessed CCTV footage around the temple.