Delhiite held red-handed while using cloned debit card

Alert staffers of a private bank along with the police managed to nab a 35-yearold man for allegedly using cloned debit cards of several people and withdrawing money.

The staffers and police kept a watch on their ATM centre and when the accused came for withdrawal, they confronted him. The accused also broke the glass door of the ATM centre in a bid to escape, but was finally apprehended.

The arrested accused has been identified as Gagankumar Nirmalkumar, a resident of Chattarpur in New Delhi.

According to the Rabodi Police in Thane, the complainant in the case is the manager of a cooperative bank in Thane. On Thursday, the complainant was informed by his head office authorities from Kolhapur that from January 21, 2021, someone had been using ATM cards of different people from the Castle Mill Naka ATM centre in Thane and had been withdrawing money thereby duping the customers and the bank as well.

"The bank officials then informed the police about the same after which it was decided that a team of bank officials along with the police would keep a watch on the said ATM centre. On Friday, around 1:15 pm, a man entered inside the ATM centre. His actions were found to be suspicious after which the bank officials and police team confronted him. The man then broke the glass door of the ATM centre and attempted to flee, but was apprehended," said a police officer.

The police recovered 17 ATM cards from accused Gagankumar and all the cards had passwords written on their back side, police said.

"The bank also informed us that since January 21, fraud transactions worth Rs 10.29 lakh have taken place from the said ATM centre. Gagankumar also revealed that more people from his gang are involved in the racket, which was also established through the CCTV footages of the ATM centre. We are questioning him about other members of his gang and how they would clone cards," the officer said.

Gagankumar has been booked under Sections including 34 (common intention), 380 (theft in dwelling house), 420 (Cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 427 (mischief causing damage), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc) and 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating).