Hyderabad: A model, plastic helicopter caught on fire in Meerpet in the afternoon on June 20. There were no casualties or injuries. The incident took place in Gurram Guda.
Police told reporters that the helicopter likely caught on fire due to a stray cigarette thrown by a vagrant.
Meerpet police inspector K Nagaraju told Siasat.com that the helicopter was used as a prop in film production and had been lying abandoned at the site for two years. It became a spot for locals to gather ever since.
“Youngsters from the nearby neighbourhood come to the ground, sit inside the dummy helicopter and leave. We suspect that some miscreant might have lit a cigarette inside and left the burning butt,” added police.
Inspector Nagaraju confirmed that the fire began around 4:44 in the afternoon, with police being informed almost immediately. However, residents of the locality had extinguished the fire using water from a borewell close by before the police arrived. No one was present on the ground at the time.
