A wooden house on Coppenameweg was completely destroyed by fire on Wednesday, 7 October, after a fire lit to burn grass and rubbish spread.
A neighbouring stone house was severely damaged. Police from the Calcutta station arrested 33-year-old M.K. on suspicion of assault, arson, destruction of property and unlawful occupation of a third party’s premises.
According to police, a conflict arose between M.K. and his neighbours before the fire. Twenty-nine-year-old R.K. stated that M.K. was burning grass and rubbish by the roadside, with the smoke causing serious nuisance. When he and his brother D.K. confronted their neighbour about this, an argument broke out that escalated into a physical altercation.
According to police, M.K. refused to extinguish the fire. He also failed to comply with police officers’ order to put out the fire. He subsequently left the scene.
While R.K. and his brother went to the police station for further processing, the fire spread to the wooden house where M.K. was staying. The house burned down completely. The flames then spread to R.K.’s neighbouring stone house.
Residents of the neighbourhood were able to prevent that house from also burning down completely. However, the property sustained considerable scorch, fire and water damage. Upon arrival, the fire brigade carried out damping-down operations.
R.K. filed a report against his neighbour that same day. M.K. was tracked down and arrested at an address in the immediate vicinity. Following consultation with the Openbaar Ministerie (Public Prosecution Service), he was taken into custody. The Forensic Investigation Department has been called in for the technical investigation.
