Dr B Thomas (Special correspondent)
The Northeast Cyber crime police on Saturday arrested a 32-year-old labourer from Raichur who had cheated a retired government servant on the pretext of offered him help in withdrawing money and handed over a duplicate card while retaining the original card.
The Victim,M G Ramakrishne Gowda who went to generate the PIN for his newly issued debit card at the Canara bank ATM in Yelahanka new town on May 21 was helped by an unidentified person and also helped him to Withdraw Rs.40,000.
Mr.Gowda returned home with the card handed over by the unidentified person and returned to the ATM on June 13 to know that the entire saving of Rs.8.5 lakh has been withdrawn and the debit card he had with him has ben replaced with a fake one.
Based on the complaint,a team led by Santosh Ram,R track down the accused by analyzing over hundred of CCTV Cameras and arrested Mallinath Angadi,native of Raichur and resident of Attur layout and recovered 75 grams of gold valuables and a mobile phone from him.
During investigation it was revealed that the accused Angadi,used to target uneducated and senior citizen visiting ATMs and offer to help them withdrawing money or change the PIN.
He would divert their attention and handover the fake debit cards while retaining the original cards with them.
Since he is familiar with the PIN numbers,the accused used the cards to withdraw money and spend the money lavishly.
The police have advised the people not to take help from strangers at the ATM strictly not to share the PIN or debit card details with the unknown persons.
People visiting the ATM should check for the suspicious objects installed at the ATM machine and ensure the safety of debit cards at the crowded places.
Angadi has been booked under cheating and various sections of IT act and investigating further to ascertain his criminal background.
Finally Bengaluru Police Commissioner,C H Pratap Reddy has appreciated Addl CP East,A subramanyeshwara Rao,DCP Northeast, Dr Anoop A Shetty,PI, Santhosh Ram R,PSI,Ramangowda,ASI,Ramesh R,and staff as, Santhosh C,Oblesh,Basavanagowda and Amith has been appreciated for the commendable and meticulous investigation done by them in nabbing the debit card fraudster a suitable reward will be given to whole team he added.
