Bengaluru: The police on Saturday arrested the shopkeeper for his alleged involvement in setting an electrical warehouse on fire in the wee hours of Friday. The police have identified the accused as Narendra Lal Choudhry (26) whom they believe conspired with a friend to set the warehouse on fire to claim insurance.

According to a release from the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru West, insurance was the motive behind Narendra Lal Choudhry’s decision to hire his friend to set his shop on BVK Iyengar Road in Chickpet on fire. According to the police, while taxi driver Gajendra (35) was burned alive, an accomplice was rescued from the blaze. The police said that based on his statement, Choudhry was arrested on Saturday, September 17.

According to the police, once Choudhry and Gajendra hatched their plan, the latter asked the accomplice, Arun Kumar, to help him execute it. The idea was to connect a UPS battery to the main switch of the power line. However, there was a huge explosion that killed Gajendra and injured Kumar. The Chickpet police waited for Kumar to recover before questioning him in the hospital. Based on the information, the police also analyzed the call records of Gajendra and Choudhry to verify Kumar’s statement.

According to the police, Choudhry had incurred losses of Rs 1.5 crore and the shop was insured for Rs 2 crore. The police have booked the shopkeeper Choudhry for murder and under various other sections of the IPC. The explosion on Friday even shattered the windows of adjacent buildings.