A disgruntled ex-employee of a textile unit in Surat has been arrested for starting a fire that gutted several shops, all over ₹ 10,000 in unpaid dues. Vinod Pandit Savle was caught on CCTV footage striking a match and setting fire to bales of cloth kept outside a shop in Shyam Sangini Textile Market on the night of September 8-9.
Police said that the fire in Surat’s textile hub destroyed 14 shops and caused damage worth ₹ 24 crore. (Also read: ‘Fired in 15 days’: Ex employee shares disturbing experience from first corporate job ) Police said that Vinod Pandit Savle, 33, worked for about three months at Shop No 639 in Surat’s Shyam Sangini Textile Market. He started in April 2026 and quit in June. Savle targeted Sheth Hanuman Prasad Zawar’s shop on the intervening night of September 8-9. The accountant claimed that the shop owner had refused to pay him the ₹ 10,000 he was owed, despite repeated reminders over call. “Upset over this, Vinod decided to set the market on fire to teach Sheth, his former employer, a lesson about the value of ₹ 10,000. As part of his plan, he bought petrol worth ₹ 150 in a plastic bottle from a petrol pump on September 8,” police said in a press release. He then entered the market around 9 pm and hid near a staircase until it was deserted. Around 12:30 am, he reached the sixth floor and poured petrol over bales of cloth kept outside his ex-employer’s shop. Savle’s act of arson destroyed property and fabrics worth ₹ 24 crore. The fire he started raged for 14 hours and completely gutted the sixth floor of the textile hub.
He then struck a match to start the fire. It also caused damage to the fifth floor. When he learned that an FIR had been filed, Savle left Surat with his wife and young child and travelled to Ayodhya. Police managed to trace him using CCTV footage, even though he concealed his face with a cloth. He was arrested when he returned to Surat.
Police said that Savle told them that he resigned in frustration after facing harassment from another accountant, Sumit, as well as his employer who was unhappy with his work. He believed that his former employer owed him ₹ 10,000 in unpaid dues, and he wanted to “teach the owner a lesson”, police said.
