KOCHI: More people might have lost money in the recent ATM thefts committed by the UP native who was arrested on Friday, according to police. Mubarak Ibarat, 42, who had stolen money by tampering with the ATMs of South Indian Bank, was arrested by the city police within hours of registering a case. Police officers said he was arrested while attempting to escape from the district after the operation.
The officers suspect that more persons might have lost money in the fraud and based on the complaints more cases will be registered. “The bank is conducting an inspection and if there are complaints related to loss of money, fresh cases will be registered,” said an officer.
The police took the accused to the ATM at Premier Junction, Kalamassery, on Saturday for evidence collection. He was later produced before the court which remanded him in judicial custody. The police found that Mubarak attempted similar thefts at 11 ATMs.
The accused was reported to have obstructed the ATM’s cash dispensation mechanism by placing an object, just in front of the shutter to block the flow of cash. When customers leave the ATM premises after failed transaction, he will remove the obstruction and take out the currency that is lying blocked.
The accused identified the ATMs in the locality by searching Google. He often changed his dress after the operation to evade the attention of others, police said.
Meanwhile, South Indian Bank on Saturday said that it has refunded the money to the affected customers.
“We understand that these kinds of incidents have been reported in some other bank ATMs also in other cities.
“As soon as these stray incidents were reported in our ATMs, we took necessary measures to prevent them and filed a complaint before the Kalamassery police station. The bank had also filed a complaint with the DGP and the City Commissioner of Police, Kochi, requesting to nab the culprits involved at the earliest,” said a press release issued by SIB.
“We would also like to inform that all complaints received from the customers have been duly attended to and the bank has refunded the amounts. The bank has proactively identified such incidents and without waiting for customer complaints, refunded the amounts involved,” the release added.