Surat: Around 3,173 parcels belonging to e-commerce platform Meesho were reduced to ashes after eight men allegedly set fire to a warehouse, a suspected fallout of a business rivalry between a courier firm owner and his former employer.

The incident occurred in the early hours of July 20 but was reported later on by warehouse owner Amol Pagar (35), who handles deliveries for Valmo Courier, a logistics partner of Meesho. In his complaint at Udhna police station, Pagar accused his former employer, Krishnakant Yadav of AIM Logistics, of masterminding the arson. Pagar had left Yadav’s firm a month ago after a salary dispute and launched his own company, RB Enterprise in Bhathena.

CCTV footage helped Pagar identify his ex-colleague Satyam and four other suspects. He also stated that Yadav had earlier threatened him to stop his new venture. The burnt parcels, mostly customer returns, were valued at around Rs 14.15 lakh.

At around 2:30 am on Sunday, the group stormed into the godown, torching parcels, three computers, printers, and other items. Police first arrested Vishal Chaudhary and Ravi Saroj, who confessed during questioning. As the complaint names Yadav, police are now trying to trace and question him. DeshGujarat