Man burnt alive as van catches fire

VIJAYAWADA: A 20-year-old man was burnt alive when a Maruti van caught fire near Chittinagar centre on Monday evening. The victim was identified as Aleemuddin (20) of Four Pillars Centre in Vidyadharapuram.Two Town circle inspector S Prasada Rao said the freak mishap occurred while  Aleemuddin and his uncle Ameer (50) were going in a Maruti Omni for distributing wedding cards. Aleemuddin sat in the back seat, while Ameer was driving the vehicle. When they reached Chittinagar centre, fire broke out in the van engine. Ameer managed to jump out of the van. But Aleemuddin could not come out as the flames engulfed the van within no time. The body was shifted to the government hospital for postmortem. A case was registered.