The city police on Monday arrested a woman and her lover on charges of looting around Rs 5 lakh by stealing the ATM card of an old woman.
The arrested have been identified as Jeenamol of Kottayam and her lover Jayan of Mavelikkara. Both of them were staying in Kottarakkara. The police said that Jeenamol earlier worked as a housemaid at the old woman’s house.
According to police, the 77-year-old retired employee of Post and Telegraph Department was staying alone at Rajiv Gandhi Nagar in Vazhuthacaud. Jeenamol joined as a maid at the house on October 4. She stole the woman’s ATM card, along with the PIN on October 6 and handed over the same to Jayan. The account was in SBT Vazhuthacaud branch. Jayan withdrew the cash from ATMs of several banks between October 9 and 24. Meanwhile, Jeenamol quit her job.
The fraud came to the woman’s notice when a cheque issued by her returned due to insufficient funds in the account. The woman then reported the matter to the police.
A police team led by Museum Circle Inspector V Jayachandran traced the accused with the help of images from surveillance cameras in some ATM counters and by tracking the phone call details of the maid with the help of the Cyber Cell. The accused had destroyed the ATM card. The accused were produced before a local court and remanded in judicial custody.