The crime branch unit (Zone III) of the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police commissionerate have arrested two notorious crooks for their involvement in duping customers who approached Automated Teller Machine (ATM) kiosks to withdraw money from their bank accounts.
Alarmed in a sudden rise in number of cases in which people especially- senior citizens, uneducated and technically unaware customers were duped inside ATM kiosks under the guise of providing held, a team led by Police Inspector- Pramod Badhak under the supervision f DCP (Crime) - Dr. Mahesh Patil intensified vigil, activated technical surveillance and alerted their core informer network in and around the twin-cities.
The team finally zeroed in on the accused duo identified as-Rohit Mridulkumar Pandey (29) and Lakhinder Ramiqbal Paswan (31) - residents of Nallasopara and Kandivali respectively. After rounds of sustained interrogation, the duo confessed to their involvement in more than eight offences committed under the jurisdiction of the Tulinj and Valiv police stations. However, the police recovered 41 ATM cards of various banks from the possession of the accused, indicating their involvement in more similar offences.
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 were used to make fraudulent withdrawals.
The police also recovered Rs. 22,000 cash and the motor-cycle used by the accused in the crime. The accused is booked under section 420 of the IPC. PI- Pramod Badhak is conducting further investigations into the case.
