Youth withdraws cash, jams ATMs, lands in police net

BENGALURU: A 20-year-old youth would withdraw cash from ATMs by using the cards of friends. But the balance in the bank accounts would remain the same  because he would ingeniously jam the machines and the system would send a report of technical snag. His luck ran out when the alert staff of a cash management company caught him red-handed. The police have recovered 48 ATM cards and Rs 52,000 from him.

Based on a complaint, Rajajinagar police arrested the accused Deepak H, who hails from Hameerpur of Uttar Pradesh. A senior police officer said Deepak along with two associates had come to the city a few months ago and stayed in a rented house in Doddakallasandra. He befriended some people who also hail from his native town.

He convinced these people to allow him to use their accounts, saying his parents would deposit  money in their accounts, and to let him use their cards to withdraw money sent for him from home. He convinced them that he would pay them commission for being allowed to use their cards and withdraw those amounts received from home.

Using a unique modus operandi, Deepak would visit ATMs across the city where security guards were absent. He would then insert the card and enter the PIN to withdraw the cash. But as soon as the cash came out, he would place his fingers inside the cash dispenser to jam it and simultaneously pull out the dispensed currency notes. By doing so, the system would send a report of technical snag and the money would not be deducted in the account statement. Using this ploy, Deepak had reportedly withdrawn as much as Rs 5 lakh from different ATMs across Bengaluru over the last one month. However, his act was captured in the CCTV camera at the kiosks, the police officer said.

The cash management team while analysing these transactions had got alerted about the series of technical snags accompanying the withdrawals. They then kept a close watch on the ATMs which had reported such problems frequently.

A week ago, Uma Mahesh, one of the employees of the cash management company, was observing an ATM kiosk on Dr Rajkumar Road in Rajajinagar and caught Deepak red-handed, immediately alerting the police. Deepak was arrested and taken for interrogation. He revealed the names of four of his associates. Efforts are on to nab them, too.