Hyderabad: Gang of 6 that stole from ATMs arrested

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Task Force police nabbed a gang of six persons, including three ITI students from north India, who were using a new method to steal money from ATMs. Officials seized 31 debit cards along with Rs 22,000 cash.

Hyderabad police commissioner Anjani Kumar said the gang used to borrow debit cards from acquaintances to make a withdrawal.

“One of the accused operates the ATM normally. At the moment when cash is being dispensed, the second person manipulates the ATM to create a technical error. Simultaneously, the first person covers the camera and collects the cash,” Mr Kumar said. By covering the camera, the gang prevents recording pictures of cash being collected.

“Later the accused spends a few moments near the ATM and acts as if cash has not come out.  After the process, they lodge a complaint with the bank through the call centre and claim that they could not withdraw cash from the ATM and that their transaction had failed,” the police commissioner said.

Following procedure the bank forwards the complaint to the bank which owns the ATM. The ATM bank’s record would show transaction failure, Mr Kumar said. The accused immediately deposits the cash into their accounts to avoid recovery if caught.

The six men were identified as Akhlak Ahmed, 23, Muntheej, 19, Tofik, 28, of Mewat district in Haryana, and Tasleem, 20, and Sakir Mohammed, 23, from Bharatpur district, Rajasthan.

Akhlak, Muntheej and Tasleem are ITI students. Mr Kumar said they took to duping banks and making easy money from ATMs to pay for their lavish habits. The gang along with the recovered property was handed over to the Nampally police for investigation.