Is the assailant, who had brutally attacked corporation bank manager Jyothi Uday at an ATM kiosk in Bangalore on Nov 19, a serial killer? Police, hot on his trail, stumbled upon vital clues that point at this possibility.
His footprints were traced to an ATM in Kadiri town. He was seen withdrawing money at an SBI ATM in Kadiri on November 10 — nine days before he attacked the bank official in Bangalore. CCTV footage of the ATM showed a person looking exactly like the assailant, wearing the same dress and holding the same hand bag too. After analyzing the footage of the ATMs in Bangalore and Kadiri, it is learnt that police officials of Bangalore and Anantapur district came to the conclusion that the person caught on camera in both places is the same and launched a massive manhunt in the district.
The investigators also suspect he could be behind the suspicious death of a woman in Dharmavaram on November 10. There are reports that the assailant had snatched the unfortunate woman’s debit card before murdering her and withdrawn money using it at the ATM in Kadiri. But the police did not confirm it.
When contacted, Dharmavaram CI Anjaneyulu said they have not identified the accused in the murder case of the woman so far and refused to comment on the reports.
With news of the man’s presence in Kadiri spreading like wildfire, people in Anantapur district are avoiding unguarded ATMs in particular and ATMs in general at odd hours. Soon after the attack in Bangalore, the police traced the mobile phone of Jyothi to a mobile store in Hindupur. The assailant had, it was found, sold the mobile for Rs. 500 to the store owner Abuzar the same day.
The Bangalore police have been camping in the district ever since and have even announced a reward of one lakh rupees for information leading to his arrest. Posters of the assailant have also been pasted at several places in the district. There are also unconfirmed reports that he was caught.
Is this assailant a serial killer?
The assailant was spotted at an ATM in Kadiri on Nov 10 (see right), the day when a woman was murdered in Dharmavaram and her debit card reportedly stolen. The uncanny resemblance of this person caught on camera in Kadiri to the assailant (see left) caught on camera while assaulting Jyothi Uday, a bank manager, at an ATM in Bangalore seems conclusive.
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