Posts Tagged ‘Two Vans Burnt’

VANS OF INDIAN RESTAURANT BURNT

July 20th, 2010 by Ravi Matah | Posted in News   Comments Off on VANS OF INDIAN RESTAURANT BURNT

Sydney:  Two food vans belonging to an Indian restaurant were on Monday destroyed in a blaze, just few days after a nearby community restaurant was set on fire on the Cleveland street in Sydney. Police say that this is not a racial attack and could possibly be due to rivalry between two restaurants.

The food vans were destroyed in the fire which police and fire fighters believe to have been deliberately started. They found the vans belonging to Maya Da Dhaba on Cleveland Street burning at 2.30 am local time.

The fire fighters were able to extinguish the fire quickly but both vans were gutted.

The Police suspect that a “curry war” among several Indian restaurants is heating up in Sydney with two food vans firebombed early this morning.

Police said they are investigating whether the arson attack is an act of retaliation, following reports of Copper Tiffin Restaurant being torched less than a fortnight ago on Cleveland Street, the Daily Telegraph reports.

The Copper Tiffin and the Maya Da Dhaba restaurants are side by side, and local residents say there is a lot of competition between the two outlets..

“We are looking at both incidents and the possibility they are linked,” a police spokesman said.

Police are still searching for two men seen running from near the building, moments before flames began leaping from the Copper Tiffin Restaurant.

Police said last night it appeared an accelerant may have been used to ignite the blaze in the food vans.

Ajay Raj, the owner of Maya Da Dhaba told media he’s shocked at the incident, “We have been here in Surry Hills for the past 11 years and nothing like this has happened. I would like to believe that this does not have any racial undertones. The police has acquired CCTV footage. There was a CCTV camera right above one of the vans that was burnt.  I have myself seen a few seconds of that footage where you can see a guy vaguely (his face cannot be seen properly) throwing something on the van and setting it alight. The detectives are investigating and I am hopeful they will be able to identify the culprits soon”.

The police was now looking at links between this incident and a blaze at another Indian restaurant The Copper Tiffin on July 5. The Copper Tiffin is close to the Maya Da Dhaba. On that occasion two people were seen running from the restaurant as fire engulfed the building.

If the Police are suspecting inter-restaurant competition as a cause of rivalry between the two incidents, then this will lead them nowhere. The Copper Tiffin Restaurant and the Maya da dhaba were running close to each other on Cleveland Street for the last more than ten years. Competition is the basic aspect in any business and is an essential ingredient for success.

Is it possible that there could be a racial angle between the two incidents, since there have been a series of attacks on the Indians residing there?  Only time will tell.

Ravi Matah.