A wage dispute took an ugly turn in Noida when a mason identified as Ranveer set his employer's Mercedes Benz car on fire. The accused was arrested by Noida police following the car owner's complaint. As per reports, the labourer allegedly had dues of Rs 2 lakh, which led him to do set ablaze the Rs 1 crore car. The employer denied the claims of non-payment.
The incident occurred on Sunday and was caught on CCTV cameras. In the video, Ranveer can be seen wearing a bike helmet and approaching the Mercedes after some people cleared the area. He then pours a flammable liquid on the car and sets it ablaze.
The bystanders alerted the owner of the car, which was parked outside the house. But it was too late by then as damage had been done to the car.
"No dues pending"
As per Ranveer, the disputes date back to 2019-2020 when he had done some work inside the house in Noida and wasn't paid since. The employer's family member denied these claims.
"We know Ranveer for the past 10-12 years, he was like a family member. We cleared all his dues when he went home during COVID-19 lockdown. We always make payment on the same day. His claim is laughable, that an amount of ₹ 2 lakh was pending," Ayush Chauhan, one of the family members, told NDTV.
"There was a wedding in our family and Ranveer was at home during COVID-19. So, we hired some other worker and got work done during that time. This infuriated Ranveer and he also threatened the new worker. But we didn't know his true intentions," Chauhan added.
An FIR has been registered and the police are investigating.
