Credit cards of Indian banks recovered from terrorists

Police are yet to contact banks whose credit cards are said to have been found from terrorists who carried out brazen attacks on Mumbai.

A marine commando involved in the combat operations at the Taj Mahal Hotel said that seven credit cards had been recovered from the terrorists along with an identity card issued in Mauritius. In a televised press conference, a marine commando said that cards issued by ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, HSBC, Axis Bank, and State Bank of India had been handed over to Mumbai police, which was providing ground support.

“We found a purse in a bag in which there was a Mauritian government identity card, seven credit and debit cards of banks like HSBC, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank and cash worth Rs 6,840. We have given all the details to the police,” the commando said. He, however, refused to divulge details of the identity card and the bank documents found there.

While police are yet to contact banks, the credit card issuers said they will extend their full co-operation as and when the cops contacted them.

“It is something where everyone will do their bit. We have not been contacted by any authority regarding the details of the credit cards used by the militants. If you notice carefully, the photo identities of the credit cards are on the top of right side of the cards, which are not issued by any bank in India. Also, there is a possibility that these could be genuine customers’ credit cards who visited the hotel before the attack,” said an executive at one of the banks.

ICICI Bank said that it issues credit cards in India, Sri Lanka, and the UK. The bank has issued about 5,000 credit cards in the UK. “The bank immediately blocks the cards once reported lost or stolen by the card holders. If the police contact us for any information, we will act as per their orders,” an ICICI Bank executive said.

An industry expert said that the origin and issuing details of a card can be traced from the first four digits of the 16-digit number on the face of the card. The number also helps a bank to trace all transactions made on the card in the past. “ICICI Bank credit cards are centrally processed. With the help of the numbers on the cards, it can be easily found out where, when and to whom these cards have been originally issued,” he said.

HSBC Bank too said it is not clear if the cards belonged to the terrorists. “In case the cards were issued by us, the police will contact us. If at all any of our bank’s card is found, we have to see how much information we can share with the public since these are extremely sensitive investigations,” said an executive at the bank.

SBI Cards, Axis Bank and HDFC Bank said that there was no official communication with them regarding the cards retrieved from the terrorists.