YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Four people are charged in connection with an arson at a Boardman Township restaurant.

The Mahoning County Grand Jury handed up secret indictments alleging that the operators of the Spice of India restaurant hired someone to torch the Market Street business.

40-year-old Rajendra Ingle of Streetsboro, 24-year-old Sonia Bhatia of Boardman, 22-year-old Jessie Winphrie and 20-year-old Christopher Reynolds, both from Youngstown, are all charged with arson.

Ingle and Bhatia are also charged with insurance fraud.

When flames destroyed the restaurant in October, investigators estimated damage at $250,000.

Prosecutors tell 21 News that Winphrie and Reynolds were paid to burn down the business.

All four suspects were arraigned in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on Tuesday.

The owners of the property, Tzarnas Family Co. LLC filed a civil suit in Mahoning Court in September alleging that the restaurant had been operated by Rajendar Ingle since last year, when he took over from the original owner, Spice of India, Inc.

The lawsuit says that Ingle failed to pay his $2,000 monthly rent for the months of August and September.

The suit was dismissed after the fire destroyed the building.