Man held for cheating over 100 ATM users

A 25-year-old man has been arrested here for cheating over 100 people by withdrawing money from their accounts on the pretext of helping them use ATM booths, police said on Sunday.

The accused, identified as Imran, a resident of Palwal in Haryana, formed a gang of fellow villagers.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Ravindra Yadav said the gang adopted different modus operandi, depending on the situation, and targeted only those ATMs where no security guard was deployed.

Imran and his associates cheated over a hundred people at different ATMs in Delhi and the National Capital Region, the officer said.

A former milkman, Imran was arrested from Mahipalpur in south Delhi on a tip off on Saturday.

A hunt is on to nab the other gang members -- Waris, Irshad, Khalid, Murslin, Mobin, Mubarik, Wasim, Salim, Shahid, Mustkim, Sahabuddin, Hamid, Isha, Kallu, Jamshed and Asif.

Imran and Asif were recently arrested by Haryana Police in a similar case. He has disclosed his involvement in more than a hundred cheating cases, said the officer.

"One gang member would enter the ATM booth on the pretext of extending help to the victim to withdraw money. He would stand close to the ATM. As soon as the ATM user entered the amount to be withdrawn, the accused diverted his attention and pressed the 'clear' button, due to which no money came out.

"In the meantime, another member of the gang would enter the ATM booth claiming that the ATM was not working. Believing them, the customer would leave without cancelling the transaction, and the gang members succeeded in withdrawing the amount from that account," the officer said.

At times, the officer said, the gang would observe the secret PIN of some customers and interchange their ATM cards on the pretext of extending them help.

They later withdrew the money from the account of the user by using the ATM card and the PIN number, the officer added.