Badri Karki, 34, of Bhaktapur Fire Brigade, had allegedly stolen Rs 100,000 from the second floor of Uddhav Dahal´s house when he reached the house to douse the fire. [break]
"On-lookers complained that he hid a bunch of notes inside his boot and we found it when we searched his body later," said DSP Deepak Thapa, chief of Metropolitan Police Circle, Maharajgunj.
Karki, a senior constable in the service, has been in fire brigade service for 19 years now. He has been detained at Hanumandhoka. SP Ganesh KC, chief of Metropolitan Police Circle, said Karki would be chargesheeted for theft.
A scuffle ensued between the police and locals when locals insisted on taking action against Karki on their own after the fire was doused. "We were able to take hold of him after convincing locals that he would be prosecuted as per laws," added DSP Thapa.
This is the first known incident in the capital that a firefighter was arrested red-handed for theft at a house in flames.
It took nearly an hour to douse that fire that broke out at 8:30 am. Fire brigades from Bhaktapur and Kathmandu and locals worked jointly to douse the fire. The house owner claimed that the fire caused a loss worth Rs 200,000.
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