Judiciary Police (PJ) spokesman Leng Kam Lon said in a statement on Friday that they were notified by the Fire Services Bureau (CB) to investigate a suspected arson case resulting from a lovers’ spat in a residential building on Rua Governador Tamagnini Barbosa in Taipa early Thursday morning.
According to the statement, a male resident told the police that there was a sudden power failure in his flat, adding that at the same time he smelt something burning outside the door, so he opened the door to check what was happening outside when he saw two umbrellas hanging on his flat’s metal gate on fire, while the residential unit’s electricity metre had been destroyed. The statement noted that the man immediately put out the blaze with water.
However, the statement said, the man did not report the case to the police at first as he suspected that the fire was caused by his girlfriend who had argued with him earlier.
The statement noted that meanwhile, the Public Security Police (PSP) received complaints from residents of the same building about noise from the flat, so they dispatched officers to investigate the scene. On arrival, the statement added, when officers saw smoke and two burnt umbrellas in the stairwell, they immediately informed firemen to follow up.
During the investigation, PSP officers found a foreign woman sitting in the garden outside the building, and then confirmed the woman to be the man’s girlfriend, according to the statement.
As the woman was suspected of being involved in the case, she has been transferred to the Judiciary Police for follow up, the statement noted.
No one was injured or required hospitalisation.
The man told the police that the two burnt umbrellas were worth about 100 patacas in total. He also said he had had no idea about the cost of the repairs to the electricity meter, the statement said, adding that he had decided to take legal action against his now ex-girlfriend.
