Mumbai, Nov 12 (IANS): A desperado attempted to loot an ATM machine of the Bank of Baroda in Borivali West to steal cash on Saturday afternoon, but could not reach the cash slots inside the machine, which he even torched.

The incident happened in broad daylight at the BoB ATM machine, and after failing to lay his hands on the cash bundles, the man left the place and was loitering around till a Borivali police station patrol team caught him on charges of suspicion.

An official said that a complaint was filed by the BoB Shimpoli Branch Manager Deepak Shahkar, where the incident occurred in the ATM situated next to the branch premises.

A police patrol scouring the locality found Omkar V. Shilavant, 21, a resident of Satara, who was loitering around in a suspicious manner and picked him up for questioning, unaware that he was the culprit.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Ajaykumar Bansal said that the accused has been arrested and there is no loss of cash in the ATM that was burnt down.

It was around 4.30 p.m. that a BoB staff saw the ATM’s display screen and the front portion burnt, so he alerted the manager who reached the spot.

A quick examination of the CCTV footage and the ATM revealed that someone had tried to access the ATM, then banged on it to break it down, still did not succeed, so he set it ablaze, but after repeated failures, he sneaked away from there.

Meanwhile, when Shahkar reached the police station, he saw Shilavant sitting there and informed the police that he was the same person seen in the ATM CCTV camera attempting to break, loot and burn the machine.

Armed with the information, Shilavant was arrested and has been slapped under various charges, including robbery. Further probe is on to find out if he had any other accomplices.