Luxury car ‘set alight in spat’
Socialite suspected of having set rival’s supercar ablaze in upmarket residential garage
ACHARRED Lamborghini – allegedly set alight at the upmarket Pearls of umhlanga residential parking lot – wa believed to be linked to an ongoing feud between two socialites over a local supermodel.
The R2 million Lamborghini Gallardo belonging to businessman Priven Reddy of Kagiso Interactive Media, 35, who lived at the flats, was a talking point after he shared images of the charred supercar on his Facebook page. Reddy insinuated that his vehicle had been burnt by the socialite known to him and the supermodel.
In a social media post, he said: “Thankfully, though you set my car alight, I don’t have to ask my mom to buy me a new one.”
The posts were later removed but Reddy confirmed the incident to the Sunday Tribune. He said he was pursuing legal action.
Aside from a police investigation, he has appointed a private investigator to handle the matter.
Reddy, who is a supercar enthusiast, said he owned a number of supercars and replacing the Lamborghini didn’t matter. He said he did not have to rely on his parents to buy him a new car.
He said he was “self-made” and, if there was an individual responsible for the act, they had endangered the lives of people who lived in the building.
“Two of my cars were parked next to each other and if the car had exploded, it’s scary to think of what the consequences could have been.
“This is just a case of jealousy. Had we not got to the scene on time, the situation could have been a lot worse because there was a line of cars next to mine.”
Reddy said he extinguished the blaze himself with the help of a security guard before the fire department arrived on the scene.
He was confident it was a case of arson and was also upset by the security measures in place at The Pearls.
Reddy’s legal representative, Narisha Hansraj, said the establishment did not have footage of the residential parking lot available because there were no cameras in that area.
This raised questions about its security measures.
When questioned about the incident, general manager of The Pearls body corporate, Leigh-ann Hollington, said the footage was available.
“The Pearls of umhlanga prides itself on the highest standards of security, and recently upgraded its systems to include biometric access control. It is our priority to ensure that all residents are safe and secure.
“As part of the security measures in place, all access points into all the buildings in the Pearls complex are monitored by CCTV cameras. We have made the footage available to Mr Reddy to view. However, he has not availed himself yet. We are assisting in the process of the forensic investigation and look forward to a speedy conclusion.”
She did not respond to the question of whether the residential parking lot had CCTV cameras or not.
Police spokesperson Captain Nqobile Gwala said a case of malicious damage to property was being investigated and that no arrests had been made.