City police 'pins' two youths for ATM theft

BHUBANESWAR: City Police on Thursday arrested two youths who were behind a series of ATM thefts and recovered ` one lakh in cash from their possession.

At least 25 ATM cards were also seized from Khageswar Sahu and Dipak Panda, the two accused who hail from Nemala under Nischintakoili block of Cuttack.

On Thursday, the duo had duped a police constable of Adaspur and made away with his ATM card. Police said the constable had gone to an ATM kiosk to withdraw cash but faced problems when the duo - who were around - offered help. The constable was on his way to Bhubaneswar when he received two bank transaction alerts on his mobile phone. One alert was for withdrawal of `40,000 from the Adaspur ATM counter whereas the other, amounting to `50,000, was from Bhubaneswar. He lodged a complaint with Sahid Nagar Police.

A joint team of Special Squad and Sahid Nagar Police tracked down the two from Nemala.

Police said the modus operandi of the duo was to hang around ATM counters scouting for gullible persons. “After helping them with transactions, the duo would hand back a different ATM card to the holder. The victim, unaware that the card is fake, would go back while the fraudsters would withdraw cash or make transactions,” a police officer said.

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