NEW DELHI: A man accused of targeting senior citizens at ATMs by swapping their debit cards and withdrawing money from their accounts was arrested in southwest Delhi's RK Puram. The investigation revealed his involvement in over 60 ATM card swapping cases across Delhi-NCR.
On Oct 17, a security guard at an ATM in Tamil Sangam, RK Puram, noticed suspicious activity and alerted the police.At that time, 61-year-old Rajpal, a resident of RK Puram, was attempting to withdraw cash using his debit card.
"Irshad entered the ATM cabin, observed Rajpal's transactions, and seized the opportunity. When the cash didn’t dispense initially, Rajpal reinserted his card, but Irshad grabbed his hand, pushed him, and snatched the ATM card, scolding him for wasting his time," the police said.
Irshad then returned a different card to Rajpal, who soon discovered the swap. Beat staff arrived and found Irshad withdrawing cash from the ATM.
The security guard and beat staff apprehended Irshad on the spot, recovering Rajpal's original ATM card, which had his name engraved on it, along with 20 additional ATM cards from various banks found in Irshad's wallet.
Deputy commissioner of police (Southwest) Surendra Choudhary formed a team under SHO (RK Puram) Ravindra Tyagi to investigate the matter.
The police took Irshad to his residence in Chandan Hola, Fatehpur Beri, where they recovered a new bike and bills for jewellery purchased with the stolen money.
While the team was descending from the first floor for further investigation, Irshad jumped from the first floor but was ultimately recaptured.
During the pursuit, head constable Inderpal and constable Shrikrishan sustained leg injuries but still managed to secure the suspect.
During the investigation, Irshad confessed to committing over 60 ATM swapping incidents in Delhi-NCR, involving cash withdrawals and purchases.
Police stated that Irshad, a taxi driver, struggled to support his wife and three children due to insufficient earnings.
According to police, Irshad's involvement in online fraud and ATM swapping began when he met Rafiq at his matrimonial home in Mewat.
Rafiq motivated and taught him these illicit techniques, which Irshad further honed through online videos. He even practised these methods with his wife at ATMs.