Gang targeting vulnerable citizens at ATMS busted

NAVI MUMBAI: After four cases of people getting cheated under the pretext of being helped to withdraw money from the ATM were registered, the unit 2 Navi Mumbai crime branch started investigating the case and busted the inter-state gang on Saturday and arrested two accused.

The police from the accused, Sayyed Kamaluddin Khan, 34 and Mohammed Shaban Iliyas Khan, 44, both from Vakola, recovered ₹80,000 cash and a few blocked ATM cards.

While going through the CCTV footage of various crime locations where people were cheated, the police found that a Verna car was present at all the places giving them their first lead. “The team found that one Verna car was seen at all the spots. While following that lead, the team learnt that the car was hired from Uttar Pradesh to be used as a taxi,” Ajay Landge, assistant commissioner of Police (Crime Branch), said.

The car was finally intercepted at Panvel, and Khan and Mohammed Shaban were arrested. The gang’s modus operandi is that they roam around Mumbai and Navi Mumbai and randomly select ATM centers, wherein they wait for a vulnerable citizen who does not know how to use the ATM. “When they would see someone struggling to use the ATM, the accused would offer to help them and use the card to withdraw money. In the process, they would get the ATM PIN. But before inserting the ATM card, the accused would swipe the ATM card with another blocked one and would show that the card was not working. After the person leaves, the accused would use the card in different ATM and withdraw the money using the pin that they had already procured,” police inspector Umesh Gavali, Unit II, Navi Mumbai crime branch, said.

According to police, three more accused from their gang are wanted in the case, and the search for them is on. The accused have similarly cheated several people, and since the end of 2023, seven such cases have been registered - four in Navi Mumbai and three in Mumbai, which includes areas like Kamothe, Kharghar, Khandeshwar, Kalamboli, Kapurbawdi, Vasind and Kalwa police station. “The accused have been remanded in police custody till Wednesday and then will handed over to the Kamothe police for further investigations,” Gavali said.

In the process of helping people withdraw money from the ATM, they get their ATM PIN UMESH GAVALI, Unit II, Navi Mumbai crime branch