Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh): The City Police have busted an ATM-looting gang and arrested three out of the four accused for stealing Rs 9.49 lakhs from various ATMs of the Kanakamahalakshmi Cooperative Bank in Visakhapatnam. The police have seized Rs 6.91 lakh in cash, 78 ATM cards, a flight ticket, a two-wheeler, 12 kg of ganja, and three mobile phones from the arrested accused.
The modus operandi of the gang is to insert a debit card in ATM, press withdrawal button and, exactly when the money is being issued, they turn off power in the ATM room switch board. The currency notes get stuck in the machine cassette, which the gang will manually pull out. They switch on power but the ATM shows it as a 'failed transaction'.
The accused were identified as Shahrukh, Rashid, Mustaqeem, and Saikul, all natives of Rajasthan. City Police Commissioner Srikanth said that "taking advantage of a minor technical glitch, the gang looted Rs 9. 49 lakhs. The matter came to the fore when the bank officials approached the police on December 12 after finding huge discrepancies in the daily transactions. The police identified the accused based on CCTV footage."
Srikanth further said, "All the accused opened accounts in Kanakamahalakshmi Cooperative Bank along with some other people from their village, and the accused kept everyone's debit card with them. They first made a fraudulent transaction in the ATM of that bank branch in Anakapalli. The accused used to insert the card for cash withdrawal and then turned off the machine. The notes get stuck in the middle of the cassette which will show the transaction as false."
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"The concerned account holder will be informed that the cash has been withdrawn, but a message will also be sent later to him that the amount has been deposited. In the meantime, they pull out the notes left in the middle of the cassette. The accused made 95 transactions from different ATMs between December 2 and 5. Three accused were arrested while the main accused Shahrukh is still on the run. Police have launched a manhunt to nab Shahrukh," Srikant added while congratulating the team of ACP Narsimhamurthy for solving the case in time.
