J&K: 2 restaurant owners set ablaze building for insurance money, arrested

Srinagar: Police on Thursday arrested two residents of Jammu and Kashmir from Punjab who allegedly set ablaze a building where a non-local resident lost his life earlier this month in a bid to claim the insurance money.

One of the accused arrested in the case had a hotel in the building, which he allegedly set ablaze along with his friend. The two had fled to Punjab after the incident.

The fire incident took place in Batergam village of Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district during the intervening night of March 3–4, in which a commercial building owned by local resident Sanaullah Mir was gutted. A non-local Mohammad Feroz Alam of Charaya, Bihar, lost his life in the fire incident.

Police initially initiated proceedings under Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), and subsequent inquiries uncovered that the fire was deliberately ignited by Abrar Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Battergam, and Zakir Ahmad Bhat, of Gulgam.

Police said consequently, a case was registered under sections 302, 436, 420, and 120B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

“Both accused individuals had fled from Jammu and Kashmir and sought refuge in Punjab. They were apprehended and brought back to Kupwara to face legal proceedings,” police said.

During the interrogation, the accused confessed that they set the building ablaze to fraudulently obtain money from the insurance company.

The police are on the job to unravel the facts in the case, they said.