A convicted paedophile organised an explosion on a film set next to the O2 Arena in east London that spread out of control and left locals terrified, according to reports.
Jacky Jhaj, 38, was himself being filmed naked as part of the pre-planned stunt, MailOnline said.
Firefighters were called to an open-air yard in Dock Road, Silvertown, at 7.51pm on Saturday.
The blaze - triggered by using gunpowder and a detonation cord – sent the roof of a police van 50ft in the air and destroyed a nearby car and a lorry.
London Fire Brigade said a total of 25 firefighters tackled the blaze near the Thames. It was under control by 9.02pm with no injuries were reported.
Firefighters are responding to reports of a fire near Dock Road in #Silvertown.
— London Fire Brigade (@LondonFire) August 31, 2024
More information to follow. https://t.co/9RWOT1ok3m
According to sources, Jhaj, from Feltham in west London, had been recording a scene entirely naked for the production dubbed ‘Project Dover’.
He was reportedly sat at a typewriter surrounded by hundreds of newspapers on the floor before flicking cigarettes at a police car, a police van and a BBC World News branded lorry which all exploded into a huge blaze.
In 2016, Jhaj was jailed for four years having been convicted of four counts of sexual activity with two 15-year-old girls after posing as a film producer.
MailOnline reports filming was first due to take place on August 24 with Jhaj wearing a “grotesque evil villain mask” but the special effects and film crew pulled out when a cast member recognised the sex offender who used the first name ‘Toby’.
Jhaj is said to have offered cash incentives for them to continue, including engineers who he offered £5,000 instead of their usual £750 fee.
The source added: “He has apparently got form in terms of setting up fictitious films and things like that, hiding the agenda and his identity from the legitimate and professional businesses and individuals that get booked via a separate production company to carry out the film work.
“Now we think this one was a giant ‘f*** you’ to the BBC, the police and the newspapers for outing him for the offences that he was committed or charged with.”
In a video posted on Reddit, naked Jhaj casually walks nearby as firefighters battle the flames.
Last year, the BBC reported young children were hired as extras for a public film shoot in London’s Leicester Square starring Jhaj, who is on the sex offenders register.
Footage posted to social media on Saturday showed the blaze raging as people close to the music venue heard five “absolutely enormous and very loud” blasts while reporting seeing black smoke billowing into the air. One video caught a bright orange explosion.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman told the Standard: “The Met was made aware of the pre-planned filming, including the use of explosives, prior to the event taking place on the evening of Saturday, August 31.
“It appears this information was not disseminated as widely as it should have been and we are looking at the systems currently in place to establish why this was the case in this instance.”
The BBC was approached for comment but it is understood the broadcaster had no involvement in the stunt.
