Mexican Batman is tying thieves to poles and drawing moustaches on them. Police say they are victims

A vigilante becoming popular as the "Mexican Batman" has been catching bike thieves and strapping them to street poles with tape. He draws moustaches and cat whiskers on the men, and scribbles “ratero” (thief in Spanish) across their foreheads. This is apparently how he lets people know that he was there, a calling card. The person is believed to be a local in Lagos de Moreno, Jalisco, where bike thefts have risen considerably, forcing the unidentified man to take things into his own hands. The police are now searching for the person trying to stop the alleged thefts.

The vigilante leaves a description of the crimes committed by the men written on pink and yellow paper tied above them on the posts. The bikes the men had allegedly stolen were also left near them as proof. They are also beaten up by the man, with one of them found in a pretty bad state. However, the man doling out justice is being treated as the criminal and the men tied to the posts as victims, the police said.

The first case came to light on June 13 when a young man was found tied to a post. A cardboard sign above accused him of being a thief. In the following days, more men were found similarly tied with huge amounts of tape. State Security Secretary Juan Pablo Hernández said officials have come across five such cases since then. While the police are still on the lookout for the "Mexican Batman", they have identified two vehicles that could be linked to the attacks.

Female vigilantes in Mexico

Meanwhile, women in the nearby state of Michocoán have also turned into vigilantes, carrying assault rifles to protect themselves from the Jalisco New Generation cartel. The group has killed several people in recent weeks, following which the women have prepared a homemade tank and roadblocks to fight the gunmen.