Hyderabad: Man held for switching cards at ATM, stealing cash

HYDERABAD: A 22-year-old labourer was arrested by Chilakalguda police for duping people in the guise of helping them withdraw cash at ATM centres. The modus operandi was to switch debit cards of the victims with similar looking defunct cards and use the stolen cards to withdraw money.
The accused was identified as B Raju, 22, from Mahbubabad. In October, Md Sadiq, 41, a bike mechanic from Chilkalguda lodged a complaint with the police stating that on October 25 night, he went to an ATM at Seetafalmandi to withdraw cash. While Sadiq was trying to withdraw cash, the ATM server was down and the offender offered to help Sadiq.
Raju took Sadiq's debit card. He returned the card after a few unsuccessful attempts. On October 27, Sadiq and his wife visited bank's branch at Padmarao Nagar to check balance and realised 31,000 was withdrawn in three transactions in few days.
Sadiq lodged a complaint with the police on October 29. Police verified CCTV footage and identified accused. Police arrested Raju on Monday at Chilakalguda and recovered 31,000 cash. Raju confessed to have committed five similar offences in the past one year at Chilakalguda and had siphoned off 1.75 lakh. The accused was produced before the court and remanded in judicial custody.