Inter-state gang of ATM robbers busted, 3 nabbed in Pathankot

Tribune News Service

Pathankot, August 10

A fortnight of planning coupled with an intense vigil carried out across the district today culminated in the Pathankot police arresting three Haryana-based fraudsters who used to befriend potential victims, particularly women, before using their ATM PIN numbers to take out money from the cash machines.

The police was in the process of calculating the exact amount of cash swindled. Senior officers claimed this could run into several lakhs of rupees.

SSP Harkamal Preet Singh Khakh said the swindlers had been at work for the last three years in Punjab. “They led luxurious lives and were masters in identifying naive people as their prey,” he added.

A fortnight ago, the police had received a complaint from a city-based woman, Kanta, who claimed that she went to an ATM where a person, who had already stationed himself in the booth, asked her if she needed any help. She told the police that she was not educated enough and hence asked the man to assist her.

The accused asked for her PIN number, which she promptly shared. The man then took out cash from the ATM and handed it over to her. Once the swindler gained a measure of confidence, he then conned her into giving him her ATM. In return, just to ensure the victim did not doubt him, he gave her an expired card. Once the fraud was complete he and two of his accomplices, who were standing outside the booth, escaped in an SUV.

Kanta was stunned when she received a couple of messages from the bank concerned that more cash had been withdrawn from her account.

Khakh said the woman’s case was not viewed in isolation as the police had been receiving regular complaints that an “ATM gang” was on the prowl.

“Following this incident and keeping in view dozens of similar complaints, we had formed a special cell called ‘cyber-security’. We even placed decoys in queues in an attempt to identify the accused,” said the SSP.

He added the police had seized 86 ATM cards, most of them expired, and an SUV. The accused have been identified as Ramesh Kumar, Parveen and Sikandar, all hailing from Hisar district.

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