Six four-wheelers and a bike were gutted in a fire that broke out at a motor garage near Transport Nagar in Ulidih, Jamshedpur, in the small hours of Friday, in what appeared to be a new trend wherein criminals are torching parked vehicles at night while police are still clueless about the motive behind these arsons.

A pick-up van, an SUV, four cars and a scooter - all were parked at the garage owned by one Mahesh Mahto, a resident of Mango - were completed damaged in the fire that apparently started around 1.30am. A police patrol from Ulidih thana noticed the flames around 2.15am and informed Mango fire station.

"SI A.N. Tiwary of Ulidih thana informed us about the fire around 2.20am. We immediately rushed to the spot with two fire tenders. But as the fire was still raging, we informed Golmuri fire station, which sent two more tenders," said Rajesh Kumar Burnwal, officer in-charge of Mango fire station.

The flames were finally brought under control around 3.30am.

Police said prima facie the fire appeared to be a sabotage, ruling out any short circuit as there was no power connection at the garage.

Ulidih OC Kamlesh Paswan said probe was on to find out the reason behind the fire. "We suspect it to be an act of some criminals," he added.

Two cars parked under tin sheds at two houses caught fires in Tinplate Colony, Golmuri, in the wee hours of Wednesday. Earlier, at least 14 bikes were set on fire at Tata Steel flats in Kadma on March 2 while a sedan was torched on Tiljuga Road in Sakchi on February 1.

SSP Anoop T. Mathew said they would look into these series of incidents.

"It is definitely a serious thing to find vehicles ablaze in the small hours. We are investigating the cases," Mathew told The Telegraph.