THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The police team investigating the ATM fraud case suspects that the Romanian gang behind the crime has collected details of over 300 accounts and hence more complaints will come up in the coming days. As of now, the team has got more than 40 complaints involving a sum of Rs 8 lakh.
"All customers who might have been looted by the Romanian gang need not have received an SMS alert,” police sources said. “Moreover, the Althara branch ATM of SBI was widely used by migrant workers. They need not notice SMS alerts of withdrawal. Hence the chances of more complaints surfacing could not be ruled out.”
Meanwhile, the police has intensified efforts to get Interpol issue notice against the fifth person in the gang, identified as Cozni. He was suspected to have fled to Turkey. Police sources discount the theory based on CCTV visuals that the person who withdrew cash using a fake card from an ATM in Mumbai after the arrest of Gabriel Marian Iliewas an Indian and say they suspect it was none other than Cozni.
"Gabriel, who is now in police custody, stated that it was Cozni,” said the sources. “The image of Cozni recovered from his passport copy available with emigration authorities resembled the one on the CCTV visuals." The police team is likely to take Gabriel to Mumbai on Monday for collecting evidence. He was taken to various locations, including the hotels in the city where he stayed, on Sunday.
