Kurar Police arrested two men for allegedly cheating senior citizens at ATM Kiosks on the pretext of helping them get the money and then swindling their cash. The accused duo have cheated a number of people using this modus operandi in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai. Police have seized cash and a car from the duo.
On July 7, a 60-year-old man went to deposit cash of ₹99,000 in an ATM near Dindoshi Sessions Court, he entered the centre, inserted the bank account number of a marketing firm to deposit the cash after which the shutter of the deposit tray opened to take in the money. When he was about to place the bundles of cash, an unidentified man suggested that he not insert two bundles at a time, which could cause an issue.
Taking the man's suggestions, the senior citizen placed the bundles in two lots, but a note of ₹500 denomination returned from the machine, following which the shutter closed but no receipt was given. Having no idea if the cash was successfully deposited, the senior citizen was baffled and was asked to approach the bank besides the ATM kiosk to get a confirmation if the amount was deposited.
When the complainant went to the bank, the manager assured that the money would be safe and it would reflect in the account in a while, however, when the senior returned to the kiosk, the man was nowhere to be found. Hours later, when his boss checked the bank statement, it was revealed that the money was never deposited and he had been cheated, following which the senior citizen approached Kurar Police and claimed that he was cheated by an unidentified man on the pretext of helping deposit cash in an ATM kiosk.
In the preliminary probe, police scrutinised the CCTV camera footage and saw the accused sitting in a car, which was traced to Ramesh Devengaon, 32, a driver, in Navi Mumbai, whose role in the cheating was ascertained and he was apprehended. Devengaon also spilled the beans on his accomplice, Firoz Pathan, 35, who too was arrested.
During the interrogation, police learnt that the accused would cheat the seniors to deposit money while his accomplice would distract them by hurrying in the line. In the commotion, the accused would cancel the transaction and retrieve the money put in the deposit tray, thus cheating them.
The accused duo were both booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code for cheating and produced in a local magistrate court. They were both remanded in police custody for a week.
