SAMBALPUR: Police on Friday arrested three persons for their involvement in an ATM fraud which took place in Bamra block recently. The accused had fraudulently withdrawn Rs 3.30 lakh from the SBI ATM at Keseibahal market within Mahulpali police limits by using ATM cards of different banks and manipulating the machine. The fraud came to light after SBI officials lodged a complaint in this regard on Thursday.
The accused were identified as Prince Kumar (23), Aditya Singh (22) and Bablu Lal Singh (25), all belonging to Uttar Pradesh. SP B Gangadhar said the trio was committing the fraud by inserting card in the ATM and putting their hands on the shutter just when the cash was about to be dispensed and not letting it shut for a while.
This way, while the cash was dispensed, the ATM machine displayed ‘incomplete transaction’ message. They would then call the customer care over banking error and the money would be credited back to their accounts. Police said the accused made 18 transactions amounting to Rs 1,74,500 using ATM cards of different banks on April 1. They also made 16 transactions amounting to Rs 1,55,500 from the SBI ATM at Keseibahal market on April 6.
Police have seized Rs 1.55 lakh cash, a four-wheeler, four mobile phones besides 12 ATM cards from the trio’s possession. Police said investigation revealed that the three accused had made 4,892 such fraudulent transactions from different ATMs in Sambalpur and duped the SBI of around Rs 4.5 crore in the last one year.