Police in Odisha’s Jagatsinghpur district have arrested a 14-year-old boy who had a unique passion to set people’s homes on fire. He had gutted over 35 thatched houses in different villages under Kujang block of the coastal district.
For the last few days, houses in different villages under the block were engulfed in fire whose causes remained a mystery for the residents.
Panicked villagers even thought that some evil forces are behind the fires and conducted
prayers at the local temples. Among the villages, the worst hit was Mangarajpur where as many as 17 houses had been gutted.
Some of the villagers of Mangarajpur nabbed the boy, Muna (name changed on the request of the police) as he wandered aimlessly in the village. Questioned by the villagers, the boy, a resident of neighbouring Riat village, took responsibility for the fire incidents in different villages including his own.
The minor had set fire to two houses in his own village.
He was subsequently handed over to the police who arrested him after registering a case on the basis of complaints filed by the affected villagers.
The boy told police he had no regrets for his actions and would set more houses on fire given a chance.
