Cigarette butt sparked Vizag fishing harbour fire, says AP police; one held
Visakhapatnam, Nov 25: A cigarette butt carelessly discarded on a boat sparked the massive fire in Visakhapatnam jetty, which gutted over 30 fishing vessels, said police on Saturday.
The incident occurred on November 19 night, when Vasupalli Nani (23) was consuming alcohol with his uncle Allipilli Satyam on a boat at the harbour.
"They consumed liquor together. Later, Nani threw a non-extinguished cigarette stub onto the nylon fishing net of an adjacent boat," said Visakhapatnam Police Commissioner A Ravi Shankar at a Press Conference.
The fishing net caught fire and the flames spread to other boats, prompting the duo to flee.
Disregarding the gravity of the situation, Nani and his uncle went home to sleep.
Later, Nani returned to the jetty and realized that it was his act of throwing the stub which caused the fire and warned his uncle not to disclose it to anyone.
After five days of intense investigation, police booked Nani under IPC Sections 437, 428 and 285, altering the case from accidental fire.
According to police, footage of Nani fleeing the jetty, where the fire originated, at 10:08 pm on November 19 through the dry dock gate proved crucial to zero in on him.
Further, a witness corroborating the unique horn sound of the accused's scooter on that fateful night proved to be key, among others.
As many as 30 fishing boats were completely gutted and 18 partially damaged in the blaze.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy has announced that his government would compensate the fishermen up to 80 per cent of the losses they incurred in the fire accident here.
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Bomb threats to Delhi Secretariat, Assembly, Red Fort and two schools declared hoax
New Delhi (PTI): Multiple institutions, including the Delhi Secretariat, Delhi Assembly, Red Fort and two schools in the national capital, received bomb threats via email on Monday, which were later declared hoax, officials said.
An official of the Delhi Fire Services confirmed that Delhi Secretariat, Delhi Army Public School in Dhaula Kuan and Air Force Bal Bharti School on Lodhi Road received bomb threats.
The threat emails were also received on the official ID of the Delhi Assembly and its Speaker at 8 am, reportedly from the Khalistan National Army, sources said.
Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta asked the Delhi Police for immediate appropriate action on the bomb threat received on his personal email id.
"The Speaker, Delhi Legislative Assembly has desired that immediate necessary appropriate action be taken in the matter and an investigation be carried out to trace the source of these emails keeping in view the serious warnings about the bomb blast threats to Delhi Legislative Assembly Secretariat and Speaker in person," the Speaker office in a letter to Delhi Police Commissioner said.
The threatening emails mention “Delhi banega Khalistan” (Delhi will become Khalistan) and read that there will be blasts in Delhi Army School, Red Fort and Metros in the next three days.
The emails claimed a blast at the Delhi Army school at 1.11 pm, Vidhan Sabha at 3.11 pm and Red Fort at 9.11 am today, they said.
After receiving the threatening emails, the administrations of both schools informed authorities in the morning, a senior police officer said.
As a precautionary measure, the premises were evacuated, and thorough search operations were carried out, the officer said.
"After nothing suspicious was found, it was declared a hoax," the officer added.
An Aam Aadmi Party leader and former MLA, Dilip K Pandey, in a post on X said, "Today, I received a bomb threat on my personal email ID, and since the matter was related to public safety, I have immediately forwarded the email to Delhi Police."
Upon receiving the information, teams from the Delhi Police, the bomb disposal squad, dog squad and Delhi Fire Services rushed to the spots and cordoned off the areas around the schools and other locations.
"We are verifying the source of the emails and further investigation is underway," the officer added.
The cyber cell has been roped in to trace the origin of the emails and identify the sender. Search operations are continuing.
