Mentally Disturbed Man On a Car Burning Spree Arrested 

Hyderabad: A 42-year-old man went on a burning spree by setting expensive cars on fire in his neighbourhood in

Malkajgiri at night when the owners were sleeping. Police arrested the man using CCTV footage and found the

suspect Ram Iyer Kannan Venkatesh had burnt the cars as he was ‘envious’.

Venkatesh told the police that his grandfather used to work for the Nizam as an accountant and his family had

enjoyed a high quality life. But his family became poor over the years and his wife also left him due to poverty.

Then he became envious of others having expensive cars and started setting those cars on afire.

Police said Venkatesh had set six cars on fire in Malkajgiri since July 3. He targeted expensive cars parked in front

of houses like Mahindra Xylo, Volkswagen Venta, Skoda Yeti Elegance, Honda Amaze, Hyundai i10 and Maruti

Ritz.

He would first select a car and go to that house with a bottle of spirit or petrol and set the car on fire. One of the victims had a CCTV camera in front of his house and the footage helped us to catch him. --Inspector at Malkajgiri.

After his arrest, Venkatesh told the police that he remembered enjoying luxuries in his childhood. His ancestors

were part of the Nizam’s palace. But later, his relatives grabbed their properties, he said. When he became an

adult he had to take up the job of a painter. “He got married in 2007 but was divorced in 2011. Since he had no

children he was living alone. He later moved into his brother’s house in Malkajgiri,” said an official.

Police booked him under IPC 435. He was sent to judicial custody.