CUTTACK: An SUV and three other vehicles were damaged in a fire that broke out at the boundary wall of Orissa high court on Tuesday in Cuttack. Police have detained a 38-year-old woman in connection with the incident.Police said the incident occurred around 11:30am and the fire spread quickly.Locals alerted the fire services and police after noticing the flames engulfing the parked vehicles. Fire officials rushed to the spot and managed to douse the blaze before it could spread further.As the vehicles were unoccupied at the time of the incident, no casualties were reported, though four vehicles suffered significant damage, police said.Deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Khilari Rishikesh Dnyandeo said, “The accused, identified as Minati Sahoo, resides under Lalbag police station limits. She arrived at the spot carrying a bag containing two bottles filled with petrol. She reportedly gave the nearby vendors her cell phone and asked them to record her before walking up to the boundary wall and setting the bottles ablaze. She then threw the bottles towards the boundary wall but she missed the target and the bottles landed on the vehicles parked nearby. The woman fled the scene immediately after retrieving her own mobile phone.”The video went viral on social media, which helped authorities identify and detain the accused within hours.A police team has also been dispatched to the petrol pump in the city from where she allegedly procured petrol in bottles as part of the investigation.Khilari added, “The woman has been detained and is being questioned. We are verifying the source from where she collected the petrol and trying to ascertain the exact motive behind her act.”“We have registered a case and further investigation is underway. Further legal action will be taken based on the findings of the investigation,” he said.Jyotiranjan Mohanty, an advocate at the high court, expressed apprehension over the security of the court complex. “We feel a bit unsafe. She was throwing burning bottles towards the high court and, fortunately, they did not reach the premises and instead fell on the vehicles. It could have been fatal if the bottles had reached the court compound.”
