The Ernakulam South police arrested a taxi driver on Wednesday for stealing a passenger’s ATM card and withdrawing money from it last week. The accused is Vibin, 21, Mulankunathukavu, Thrissur. According to the police, the incident occurred when Krishna Shivan and his family had gone to Thrissur for a pilgrimage. They took Vibin’s taxi and travelled to various pilgrim spots in the state.
On January 1, he dropped Krishna and his family at the Ernakulam Junction railway station. After boarding the train, Krishna received an SMS that money had been withdrawn from his bank account. Then he learnt that he had lost his ATM card.
After arriving at Mumbai, Krishna checked his bank account and found that `20,500 had been withdrawn from his account from an ATM centre at the Ernakulam Junction railway station. He soon blocked the card and registered a complaint with the Mumbai Police.
The Mumbai police handed over the investigation to the Ernakulam South police. The police first received video clippings from a CCTV camera installed in the ATM centre and sent this for identification. Krishna watched the clipping and identified the driver, Vibin.
The accused was arrested from his house in Thrissur on Wednesday morning. During the interrogation, Vibin admitted that he stole Krishna’s pouch which contained the ATM card.