BHOPAL : The Kotwali police, on Monday, busted a gang of conmen from Punjab and Haryana who used to withdraw money from ATMs of various banks and used to shut down the power supply of the ATM so that their transaction could not be entered in the bank records. Subsequently they used to call the cell centre of the respective bank and register their complaint that they could not withdraw the money and it was wrongly deducted from their account. The bank call centre on finding no record of their withdrawal used to credit the money back into their account. The accused fraudulently withdrew around Rs 1.64 crore from various accounts of around 17 banks including one global bank.
The police recovered around 60 ATM cards, cash of Rs 44,000 along with three mobiles and a Swift Dzire car from their possession. The ATM cards were issued in the name of their family and friends.
The incident came to light when the accused were trying to withdraw money from an ICICI Bank ATM at Peergate on May 6. After withdrawing the money, they tried to switch off the power of the ATM but could not succeed in their attempt and left in a hurry. The guard posted at the ATM, who was inside in his cabin heard them talking and informed the Kotwali police. He also took down the registration number of their car and gave it to the police.
The police took immediate notice of his complaint and on May 7 arrested them from Talaiya police station area. During interrogation it was found that money was refunded frequently in their accounts. They were staying at Krishna Hotel in the city and had planned to withdraw money from various ATMs. One of the accomplices managed to escape the police
The accused were identified as Parvinder Singh, son of Davinder Singh. 27, resident of Ludhiana Punjab and Narendrajeet Singh, son of Surendra Singh, 44, resident of Haryana while one of their accomplices Ravindra Singh alias Billa is absconding.
SP (South) Anshuman Singh said that the case is the best example of how a small lead can lead to a big expose. He appreciated the vigilant approach of the ATM guard who provided the vital information in the case.
