In a bizarre incident, an unidentified miscreant set an ATM of the Indian Overseas Bank (IOB) on fire on Sunday, and left behind a 17-page letter for the police and the media.
The incident occurred at KPHB colony at around 3:30 am on Sunday, when the man walked in to the ATM centre and used an inflammable substance to set the machine on fire.
The police said that two CCTV cameras were also damaged and burnt in the incident, due to which it became harder to identify the accused.
According to reports, the unidentified man left behind a 17-page note in English, stating that he would kill himself if it the media did not broadcast it in 24 hours, and claimed that it was a manifesto for the entire world.
“People across the world should live with humanity and protest against racism. Every individual must fight against caste system and religious issues,’’ the letter reportedly stated.
The police registered a case under Section 435 (Mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to cause damage) of the IPC.
The police are checking CCTV footage from nearby cameras to identify the accused and nab him.
Just last month, the Kachiguda police in Hyderabad arrested five members of a gang, on charges of stealing around 80 Air Conditioners from around 41 ATM centres across the cities.
The police said that the five-member gang, which included three students, stole ACs under 23 police station limits in the Commissionerates of Hyderabad and Rachakonda, worth around Rs 15 lakh. The gang had stolen the compressors of the Air Conditioning units as well.
Though they initially tried to sell the ACs on OLX, police said that they were unsuccessful.
Following this, they approached a local AC mechanic and told him that they had a contract with banks to remove old ACs from ATMs, which they were selling to him.
The police recovered 71 ACs from the mechanic’s shop at Fateh Darwaja in Hyderabad’s old city area.