The Navghar police in Bhayandar have arrested a 40-year-old crook for his involvement in duping customers who approached Automated Teller Machine (ATM) kiosks to withdraw money from their bank accounts. While investigating a case in which a man was duped of Rs. 40,000 at the ATM kiosk of reputed multinational bank in the Shirdi Nagar area of Bhayandar (east) on 16, March, the police spotted a suspiciously looking biker in the footage’s captured by the Close Circuit Tele-Vision (CCTV) installed near the ATM booth and possible getaway routes.
However, the registration number of the motor-cycle was not clearly visible due to the hazy images. Armed with the sketchy images of the motor-cycle, the investigating team took help of the traffic counterparts and also managed to trail the monetary transactions on the virtue of withdrawals effected from different ATM’s. This apart from activating technical surveillance and alerting the informer network in and around the region.
The team work helped and the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police commissionerate finally zeroed in on the accused identified as-Arif Mohammed Ali Shaik (40)- a resident of Nallasopara. After rounds of sustained interrogation, the accused confessed to his involvement in seven similar offences committed in Mira Road, Bhayandar, Tulinj, Kandivali, Goregaon and Oshiwara.
However, the police recovered 26 ATM cards of various banks from the possession of the accused, indicating his involvement in more similar crimes. The police also recovered Rs. 40,000 cash and the motor-cycle used by the accused in the crime. Explaining the modus operandi, the police said, the accused approached ATM users under the guise of offering help and kept observing the PIN the victim was entering in the system after punching the card.
When the machine failed to respond, the crook hurriedly left the booth, but not before replacing the card with a similar looking one. The original card and the memorized pin was used to make fraudulent withdrawals. The accused is booked under section 420 of the IPC. API- Yogesh Kale is conducting further investigations into the case.
