The city police arrested a notorious inter-State ATM robbery gang, who have been committing thefts at the ATM centres using duplicate keys. The police found that the accused had made good with around ₹1.40 lakh at various ATM centres in the city.The arrested have been identified as Aakib Khan (27) and Mubarik (21), both hailing from Mewat district in Haryana.
According to the police, a complaint was received from G. Surya Bhaskar Rao, Accountant, State Bank of India, Birla Junction branch, on August 21, in which it was stated that on July 7 and 8, two unidentified persons did fraudulent ATM transactions to the tune of ₹1.03 lakh by switching off the power cables illegally.
Explaining the modus operandi, Inspector of Police (West Sub division crimes), M. Avatharam, who was a part of the investigating team, said that the gang had come from Delhi in a flight and stayed in a posh hotel. While coming, they had brought 34 ATM cards of their friends, relatives and also collected PIN numbers of the cards. They take a bike on rent and conducted recce over ATM centres, where there was no security.
“Entering the ATM centre, they first open the lock of the front box with the duplicate keys. Then they insert ATM card, enter PIN, withdraw the amount and immediately after cash comes out of the machine, they switch off the power button through the front box which is already opened. As a result, the ATM shows ‘Transaction Failed’ due to the network failure, but withdrawal message is delivered to the register mobile number of the card holder,” he said.
Police said that after a few minutes, the actual card holder calls the customer care centre and complains that he tried to withdraw amount, but the transaction failed and the amount was debited in their account. After three days, the above amount will be credited into the account by the bank as they too find that the transaction was failed. The actual card holder is given a share from the amount credited in the account.
According to police, on August 22 at around 5 a.m., they received information about the gang attempting to rob an ATM centre in the city. The police found that the duo had committed theft of another ₹39,000 from an ATM. The police have recovered ₹76,000, 34 ATM cards and three duplicate keys from the accused. The police suspect that the accused were involved in similar crimes in Delhi, Mumbai and Bhopal.
