Surat: As many as 3,173 parcels of leading e-commerce retailer Meesho were reduced to ashes after eight men allegedly set fire to the stock, in an act suspected to be a fallout of a business rivalry between a courier firm owner and his former employee. While the incident occurred in the early hours of July 20, it was reported to the police by the godown owner Amol Pagar (35), who managed deliveries and pickups for Valmo Courier, a logistics platofrm owned by Meesho.In his complaint lodged at the Udhna police station, Pagar said he strongly suspected that the fire was masterminded by his former boss Krishnakant Yadav, proprietor of AIM Logistics. Till a month ago, Pagar worked with Yadav’s firm but quit on a bitter note after a fight over salary. He then started a new company RB Enterprise in Bhathena.After reviewing the CCTV footage of the godown, Pagar identified his former colleague Satyam and four others. He said in the complaint that Yadav had threatened him to prevent the establishment of his new business after he resigned.The gutted parcels, which were mostly goods returned for different reasons by customers, were valued at Rs 14.15 lakh, the complaint states.At around 2.30am on Sunday, several people barged into Pagar’s firm and set fire to the parcels, along with three computers, printers, and other items. Police first arrested Vishal Chaudhary and Ravi Saroj, involved in this incident. During interrogation, Vishal revealed that he met with a wanted accused Bachhi and Nitin, both former colleagues of Pagar. Bachhi and Nitin then accompanied him and Ravi to near INS Hospital, where another accused, Rajnish, and his friend were waiting. The five decided to torch Pagar’s godown. The met convened with Ashish, Dinesh, and Ankit near Millenium Market-4, and the group proceeded to Pagar’s firm to carry out the arson as planned, said SN Desai, inspector, Udhna police station.Desai told TOI: “Ravi monitored the surroundings by sitting in a rickshaw, while Nitin maneuvered on his motorcycle. Satyam, Ankit, Ashish, Rajnish, and Dinesh entered the godown, doused fuel on the parcels and set it on fire.”“As the victim has suspected Yadav, with whom he worked alongside the accused, we are attempting to contact Yadav. Bachhi and Nitin are the prime accused in this conspiracy. We are ascertaining if they acted on Yadav’s instructions, as he had threatened Pagar to hinder his new venture,” Desai said.
