JUST six days after a Cohuna tobacconist business was targeted in a ram-raid, the store has been destroyed by a fire Victoria Police are calling suspicious.
CFA units from Cohuna and Kerang responded to the scene in King George Street at about 2.53am on Sunday to find a utility vehicle had crashed into the front of the store.
Both the vehicle and the small business were well in flames.
The CFA deemed the incident was under control at 3.34am and safe at 5:37am.
Alongside CFA units, Victoria Police, SES and power and gas company workers were also on-scene.
Victoria Police said a car drove into the front of the store before it was set alight.
Lunar taskforce detectives are now investigating the incident.
An arson chemist and forensic services officers attended the scene on Sunday afternoon and the investigation into the incident is continuing.
Swan Hill Police acting inspector Brian Hansen said it was hard to tell if the incident was linked to recent blazes at Victorian tobacconists.
“We were alerted to a fire at that particular location, our local crews were called out to attend and secure the scene,” he said.
“Once the CFA had made the scene safe, we made our usual notifications to the local crime investigation unit and the arson squad in Melbourne.
“Merely because it’s a store that sells tobacco and it looks as though it’s been set on fire, we are obligated to notify the Lunar taskforce.
“That’s when they’ll go through their processes to see if it is related to anything else that’s occurred in the state.”
Victoria Police’s Taskforce Lunar was launched last year and is investigating the illicit tobacco trade and organised crime links in Victoria.
Earlier this month Victorian police seized more than $12 million worth of illicit tobacco from properties in northern Victoria and Melbourne as part of a joint operation with the Australian Taxation Office.
Insp Hansen said police were yet to ascertain if the fire was linked to last week’s ram-raid incident.
“There are some similarities but there are also some differences,” he said.
“We are still working through that process.
“There’s a lot of CCTV footage to go through and quite a few statements from people to obtain as well.
“Once we gather all of that information, then we can make a determination on that.
“We are yet to determine if the car was stolen, because the vehicle is so damaged.
“That will be another thing that will come from the arson chemist’s report – whether they were able to identify any VIN or registration numbers.”
A stretch of King George Street from Market Street to Park Lane was closed for much of Sunday afternoon as investigations were conducted.
Businesses along the stretch of road remained without power on Monday morning, the fire having damaged a wooden power pole outside the store.
The Big Cohuna ice cream store owner Rebecca Birch said while that store wasn’t damaged, they were forced to close their business and source generators to save their stock.
“The fire siren actually woke us up around 3am this morning and we had no idea what it was about,” she said.
“We received the call at 8:30am, letting us know we needed to come down to the shop.
“Sunday would normally be quite a busy day for us and we’re now having to close our store,” Ms Birch said.
“We’ve had to organise to get all of our freezers up and running again so we don’t lose all of our product.
“All of the food that we had ready to go is wasted now.”
Insp Hansen assured the community that police were taking the matter seriously.
“We’re working on a number of strategies to provide a greater presence in the area,” he said.
“We’re certainly increasing local patrols both day and night.
“We are doing our best to identify who is responsible for this and bring them before the courts and provide that safe environment for the community.”
Anyone who witnessed the incident or has dash-cam/CCTV footage or information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
