By Swastika Sahu
A 22-year-old Indian-origin student was arrested in the United States after he allegedly attempted to set his family on fire and issued terroristic threats, according to sanctioned records, with police charging him with arson after an incident in a family residence urged an emergency response.
On Monday, University of Texas at Dallas senior Manojh Sai Lella was arrested by the Frisco police and booked into the Collin County jail. Police were called to Lella’s residence after family members reported a mental health episode with implicit threats. Authorities said he attempted to set the house on fire several days earlier.
Lella was charged with first degree felony arson with intent to damage a dwelling or a place of worship, as well as Class A misdemeanor of terroristic threat of family or household members. The investigation is still going on.
A point made by law enforcement regarding the arson charge indictment is that it “combines the charge of fire damages with the charge of arson” and specifies “a place of worship as an entity within the meaning of Texas law” on the charge of arson.
As shown by court documents, bail was set at $3,500 for the misdemeanor charge and $100,000 for the arson charge. There will likely be more court cases in the following days.