Police bust ‘ATM fraud institute’ in Muzaffarpur, five arrested

With the arrest of an alleged ATM fraudster, police in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district claimed to have unearthed an “institute” where he used to train jobless youths the art of duping gullible bank customers.

“The arrest of Pankaj Sahni, a BSc student at RDS College, Muzaffarpur, has also solved the mystery behind the PBM mark he would leave at the ATM kiosks after looting them,” police said.

“PBM actually stood for ‘Pankaj business management institute’ where Sahni had been training unemployed youths the art of duping bank customers,” Vijay Prasad Rai, station house officer of Mithanpura police station of Muzaffarpur town said. The PBM institute or the Sahni gang, at present, has 55 members, the station house officer (SHO) said.

Sahni and his four associates were arrested from Chaturbhuj Sthan Road in Mithanpura police station area on Sunday evening. They were produced in a local court, which remanded them to 14-day judicial custody.

During interrogation, Sahni revealed that his gang was operating in Jharkhand, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, apart from Bihar. He claimed to have fraudulently withdrawn ₹1.14 crore before being arrested by the police, Rai said.

Disclosing his modus operandi, Sahni told the police that he would stand behind a customer, whom he suspected would need help in carrying out ATM transaction. “When the customer, after entering the PIN, looked at me for help, I would press a key, which he did not disclose, to turn the screen black. After waiting for some time, the disappointed customer would leave the kiosk and I would complete the transaction,” Rai quoted Sahni as saying.

“When asked to demonstrate his skill, Sahni even withdrew money from my account,” Rai said.