Rs.10,000 Salary Dispute Leads to Rs.24 Crore Fire

A former accountant was arrested after police said he deliberately set fire to Surat’s Shyam Sangini Textile Market over a Rs.10,000 salary dispute, causing around 24 crore in losses.

On 9 September, a massive fire broke out at Shyam Sangini Textile Market in Surat. The fire was initially believed to be an accident, but police later found that it was allegedly started deliberately.

Police arrested 33-year-old Vinod Pandit Savle, a former accountant at one of the shops. According to police, Savle had been working there since April 2026 on a monthly salary of Rs.30,000. He later left the job after a dispute with his employer and claimed that Rs.10,000 of his salary was still unpaid.

Police said Savle bought around Rs.150 worth of petrol and went to the market after midnight. CCTV footage showed a man with his face covered pouring petrol on textile parcels kept outside a shop. He allegedly tried to set them on fire once, but the second attempt succeeded.

The fire quickly spread because of the large amount of fabric, plastic packaging and other material stored in the market. Goods worth around Rs.24 crore were destroyed. Much of the stock had been prepared for delivery ahead of the Navratri and Diwali season. The fire continued for around 14 hours before it was brought under control.

Police examined CCTV footage from more than 1,500 cameras and traced Savle’s movements. According to police, he left Surat after the incident and travelled to Rajasthan and Ayodhya before returning to the city, where he was arrested.

Police said the fire was allegedly started because of the salary dispute with his former employer. However, the incident affected several other traders who were not involved in the dispute and caused losses worth crores of rupees.