BENGALURU: Unidentified miscreants set BJP MLA Satish Reddy’s two SUVs on fire at his residence in Hongasandra off Hosur Road in south-east Bengaluru early Thursday after gaining entry through the back gate.
The vehicles —Mahindra Thar and Toyota Fortuner —were doused with petrol before they were torched around 1.25am, according to CCTV footage. The Thar was purchased a month ago, the three-time MLA told cops.
Duo barged inside, covered CCTV cam with cloth: DCP
Reddy’s four four-wheelers were parked in the frontyard and the other two cars were left untouched. “It looks like the work of my rivals. We have shared CCTV footage with cops,” the 48-year-old Bommanahalli MLAsaid.
Chief minister Basavaraj Bommai said in Mangaluru that Reddy is in public life and miscreants seem to have targeted him over rivalry. “Investigations will be carried from all possible angles. We will arrest the suspects at the earliest,” the CM said.
Three teams have been formed to nab the miscreants.
According to police, four men on two motorbikes came near the back gate and two of them sneaked into the house. “They poured petrol on the bonnet of two vehicles and set them on fire. The miscreants took the same route to escape,” an investigating officer said. A security guard and a police constable deployed at the front gate, about 50ft from the vehicles, heard the sound of batteries and tyres exploding and rushed to the spot. Reddy and other family members poured water on the burning vehicles. After a family member called the police control room, a fire tender doused the fire by 2am. Front portions of both vehicles were destroyed in the fire.
Deputy commissioner of police (south east) Srinath Mahadev Joshi said, “Taking shelter behind a tree and with faces covered in cloth, two men barged into the house. They covered the CCTV camera with a cloth and turned it in another direction. They entered at 1.23am and fled at 1.30am.” Home minister Araga Jnanendra, city police commissioner Kamal Pant and other senior cops interacted with the investigating police officials.
