Nagpur: For the city police, it began few months back when some persons mostly the senior citizens lodged complaints that some tricksters swiped their debit cards and withdrew a large chunk of amounts from their accounts. As the incidents with a similar modus operandi had come to light, city police started investigations. On Thursday, Ajni police tasted a major success when they busted a gang of three tricksters who were involved in 30 ATM/Debit card frauds not only in different areas of Nagpur but also in other cities of the State.
The accused tricksters have been identified as Mayur Anil Tayarkar(26), a resident of Plot No. 25, Annapurana Nagar, Hudkeshwar, Rohit Gunwant Khapekar, a resident of Tandapeth and Pankaj Giridhar Roy (28), a resident of Annapurna Nagar, Corporation Colony, Hudkeshwar.
According to police, the three accused fraudsters spent the stolen money on luxury items and also purchased an i20 car on instalments,” he said. As complaints of ATM frauds started pouring in different police stations, the cops trailed the fraudsters on the basis of pictures obtained from ATM cameras. They intensified patrolling and deputed police personnel in plain clothes near ATMs. After getting information about the accused using i20 car, the police kept watch on i20 cars arriving at ATMs. Their efforts bore fruits as they managed to nab three members of the gang from Bhagwan Nagar. During intense interrogation, the accused spilled beans and confessed to committing the ATM frauds in city’s Ajni, Wadi, MIDC, Pachpaoli and Hudkeshwar areas. The cops have seized the i20 car (MH-31/DK-4687) used by the three-accused for committing the ATM frauds.
The modus operandi:
Police said that when a target would go to an ATM kiosk, one gang member would enter on the pretext of some other work, such as depositing cheque or filling up a form. When the target was in the middle of the transaction, the gang member would converse with them and ask them to make another transaction, such as getting a mini statement citing some rule. While the target would do this, the gang member would see the PIN being keyed in. In some cases, the gang members would carry out the transaction for the target, but would then return a phony card to the victim. In other cases, they would swap the card while pretending to examine it. They had bought a number of cards of various banks from Delhi. The original card would then be used to withdraw money. They would throw away the card when it was blocked and would then search for new victims.
The arrest was made by Senior PI Sankhe, API Sandip Dhobe, API Nilesh Gawande and staff including Pravin Nakhate, Rajesh Yawle, Gajanan Chandankhed and Amit Dhanusevak.
