Soldier, friend arrested over arson attack in Thirukkovil

A 21-year-old Army deserter and his friend have been arrested by the Thirukkovil Police for setting fire to a police jeep and a three-storeyed textile shop in Thirukkovil town.

The vehicles parked in the Tirukkovil Police garage were set on fire in the early hours of March 19. The textile showroom was set on fire in the early hours of March 23. The police say that the damage caused by the fire in the textile showroom is around Rs.50 million.

The police say that the arson attack was carried out by the Army deserter and that his 21 year old friend only aided and abetted.

An investigation revealed that the main suspect worked as a cashier in this shop. The police station OIC has received information that the owner of the clothes shop had removed him from service due a theft. During the lengthy questioning of this person about the fire in the clothes shop, it was revealed that he set fire to the shop because he harboured an animosity over his sacking. He also has confessed that he had set fire to the jeep. The suspect said that he was arrested on two previous occasions by the police for incidents he had no involvement in and because of this he had set fire to the jeep as an act of revenge.