Two held in Nagpur for ATM cash-dispenser tape fraud that cost 41 customers Rs 1.52 lakh

Hudkeshwar police in Nagpur have arrested two men for withdrawing customers' money after sticking a strip on an ATM machine. They are Satish Gorelal Rajput, a resident of Kanpur, and Dharmendra Rajkapoor Sahu, a resident of Jabalpur.

A few days ago, Divyansha Sitaram Meena, manager of the Canara Bank branch at Hudkeshwar, lodged a complaint with the police, on which a case was registered. In the complaint she said that between September 12 and 14, unidentified accused stuck a plastic strip on the cash dispenser of the bank's ATM machine.

As a result, customers would swipe their cards but no cash would come out. The accused would then remove the strip and take the money inside, the complaint said. In this way, Rs 1.52 lakh was withdrawn from 41 customers in all.

When police inspected the ATM, they found the strip on the machine's cash dispenser. Considering the seriousness of the case, they examined CCTV footage from several ATM centres. The footage captured the suspects' movements and images of them tampering with the ATM's cash dispenser.

Police then put their network of informers to work. Acting on secret information, they laid a trap and first detained Satish. Police said he confessed to the crime under intense questioning. He also told them where his gang accomplice, Dharmendra, could be found. Police then arrested Dharmendra from the Sitabuldi area.

A search of Satish's bag turned up five black strips, tape, Feviquick, scissors and ATM cards of different banks. Police said Satish told them during questioning that he had taken money from ATMs together with Dharmendra.

The investigation has found that the two accused come from different states, one from Uttar Pradesh and the other from Madhya Pradesh. It is therefore suspected that they may be part of a larger inter-state ATM fraud gang.

The accused used a very clever method, and ordinary people were easily caught in their trap. Police are now preparing to produce both in court and seek police custody, with the aim of finding out in which other parts of the city or state they have committed similar crimes.