Former Accountant Held for Allegedly Setting ₹24 Crore Surat Textile Market Blaze

Former Accountant Arrested for ₹24 Crore Surat Textile Market Fire

Surat: Surat Police have claimed to have solved the massive fire that broke out at the Shyam Sangini Textile Market in the Saroli area, causing an estimated loss of around ₹24 crore. Police have arrested a former accountant, identified as Vinod Salve, a resident of Dhule, Maharashtra, in connection with the alleged arson.

Salve was arrested from the Dindoli area on September 21, after the Crime Branch tracked his movements following the fire.

According to Additional Commissioner of Police Karanraj Vaghela, Salve had joined a textile firm located on the sixth floor of the market in April 2026 on a monthly salary of ₹30,000. He allegedly quit the job about a month ago following disputes with the senior accountant and the owner.

Police said Salve claimed that ₹10,000 of his salary was still pending. After repeatedly following up over the payment, he allegedly decided to take revenge.

Investigators said Salve purchased around ₹150 worth of petrol from a fuel station in Dindoli a day before the fire.

On the night of September 8, after the shops had closed, Salve allegedly entered the sixth-floor corridor of the textile market, where large quantities of sarees and dress materials had been stacked for dispatch ahead of the Navratri and Diwali seasons.

According to police, CCTV footage captured Salve wearing a black shirt, light-coloured trousers, a cloth covering his face and dark glasses. He allegedly sprinkled petrol over the stored textile material and set it on fire using a matchstick.

Police said the entire act was completed in approximately four minutes, after which Salve fled the area on a motorcycle.

The fire brigade received the emergency call at around 12:50 am. Firefighters battled the blaze for nearly 14 hours before bringing it under control. All shops on the sixth floor and several shops on the fifth floor were reportedly gutted.

Following the incident, Salve allegedly fled to Rajasthan and Ayodhya in an attempt to evade arrest. He returned to Surat on September 20, after which the Crime Branch traced and arrested him the following day.

Police are continuing their investigation to establish the complete sequence of events and assess the extent of the damage caused by the fire.