5 held in ATM fraud case in Hyderabad, 3 absconding

Hyderabad Police busted a gang from Haryana and arrested five persons involved in several cases of fraudulent transactions at ATM centres in Hussaini Alam here, officials said on Tuesday.

The police said that the gang had withdrawn approximately Rs 5 lakh cash this year and three of their associates are absconding.

Hyderabad police commissioner Anjani Kumar said that during the course of an investigation CCTV footage was verified, which helped them get clues to the suspects and using them on November 15, five of the accused were apprehended.

Recently, the gang was involved in six such fraudulent transactions at an ATM centre in Hussaini Alam. Following a complaint, a case was booked and with the help of technical evidence, the suspects were identified and nabbed.

The accused have been identified as Mohammad Irshad Ahmed, Mohammad Asim Khan, Rizwan Khan, Mustaq Khan and Asif Khan, all natives of Palwal in Haryana and the absconding persons are Mubeen Ahmed, Abid Khan and Jabid Khan, all from Haryana as well.

According to the police, the accused had opened accounts in various banks and obtained ATM cards. They visited various State Bank of India (SBI) ATM centres to withdraw cash using their debit cards. Often they used their relatives and friends' ATM cards as well.

"On verifying CCTV reports, it was found that huge withdrawals were made in ATMs with different ATM Cards and other Banks ATM cards especially IDFC, HDFC, AXIS Bank and Andhra Bank," the police said.

"They would swipe the debit card and enter the pin in the ATM and as the machine starts to dispense cash, they would not collect the cash and hold it there till the transaction got timed out. When the machine attempted to pull the currency notes back, they continued to hold the notes. Thus, the transaction displayed a technical error or incomplete transaction. While one person did the transaction, others kept watch outside the ATM and also hid the front camera of the ATM," said Anjani Kumar.

"They further lodged a complaint through toll-free numbers of the bank, saying they did not receive the amount from the ATM machine. As a result, they receive a refund in four working days from the bank," Kumar added.

They choose SBI ATMs for withdrawal of amounts because the ATMs are not manned and they reimburse the amount within 4 working days.

"On verification of the bank accounts of the suspects, it was found that they have withdrawn approximately Rs 5 lakh cash this year. Other banks accounts were yet to be verified. They have been indulging in this type of offence for the last two years. The total amount they have withdrawn by fraudulent transaction is being further investigated with the assistance of Bank officials," the police further said.

Further investigation is underway.

( With inputs from ANI )

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