Two held for bid to kill paan stall owner

Pune: A 25-year-old paan stall owner from Talawade had a narrow escape on Tuesday night, when two men poured petrol on him and tried to set him on fire after he refused to give them a cigarette for free.The Chikhali police have arrested Sachin Punase, 25, of Chakan and Bhushan Suradkar, 25, of Nighoje in Khed taluka on the charge of attempted murder.An officer from the Chikhali police said that on Tuesday night, Punase and Suradkar went to the complainant's stall and took a cigarette. When the complainant asked them to pay the charges, the duo refused and abused him. "The complainant and the duo had heated arguments, following which the duo threatened the complainant with dire consequences and left," the officer said.He said that the duo returned late at night and hurled petrol on the complainant. They even lit a matchstick and threw it towards the complainant before driving away from there. "Before it could hit the complainant, the matchstick went out," he said.The officer said that the complainant immediately started raising an alarm. The duo was later taken into custody. "Our investigations are on," the officer said.