Man torches prayer hall to frame neighbours; arrested

The owner of a building housing a Christian prayer hall here was among two persons arrested today for allegedly setting on fire the hall in a bid to frame two neighbours involved in a land dispute with him.
Police said Krishnappa, who owns the building in Vidyaranyapura locality, and his accomplice Balaraj were arrested within hours of the incident.
"We have arrested Balaraj and Krishnappa for setting on fire a Christian prayer hall in early hours today," Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) T R Suresh told PTI here.
The duo was also charged with lodging a false case earlier against the neighbours -- Fayaz and Shardamma, who are at loggerheads with Krishnappa over a land dispute for the last 25 years.

In a bid to frame the neighbours, Krishnappa lodged a police complaint alleging that Shardamma, with the help of Fayaz, raised a ruckus near the prayer hall, beat up the watchman and tied him and eventually set the prayer hall on fire in the wee hours of today, the DCP said.
However, during the investigations police found Krishnappa and Balaraj guilty of setting the prayer hall on fire, which was doused by themselves with the help of some people present there, Suresh said.
Krishnappa hatched this plan to take revenge on Shardamma and Fayaz, who had earlier lodged an attempt to murder case against Krishnappa.

The DCP said the prayer hall did not suffer much damage in the fire.