Police to follow money trail of ATM gang

KOLKATA: The Gaya gang that duped ATM users at Amherst Street and Ballygunge, had a unique modus operandi. Once the gang skimmed an ATM card, they would return to an ATM around midnight and make two transactions, one before midnight and the other right after 12am. “This allowed the gang to make maximum withdrawals for two consecutive days,” said a senior police officer.

The police said they got hold of several CCTV grabs from around midnight to try and develop leads on the accused. “We have been trying to get more information on these men from the accused. But in all probability, they have fled Gaya. We have decided to send out the photographs of the other accused that we collected from a CCTV grab and circulate it with our counterparts in other states,” said an investigating officer. The cops said that among other things, police are trying to establish the money trail.

Two men, identified as Surendra Kumar and Sultan Khan, were arrested earlier this month after they used a card skimmer to steal customer data. The duo was nabbed from Gaya after they duped victims at ATMs located in Ballygunge and Amherst Street. It is during their questioning the names of other members of the gang began to crop up.

The arrest comes months after a Romanian gang of six were nabbed for creating havoc in south Kolkata as they successfully skimmed cards at three different ATMs between June and August.

The cops are certain that this gang has a pan national presence. Most gangs in Jharkhand use certain bank accounts of the poor and illiterate to park their ill-gotten profits. “We have detected nearly 500 bank accounts used by the cyber conmen between Gaya and Jamtara and neighbouring districts,” said a DIG from Bihar police.