Palghar Police Dismantle ATM Fraud Syndicate of Four in Maharashtra
Click to start listening
Palghar (Maharashtra), Dec 5 (NationPress) In a significant achievement, the Palghar Police dismantled a four-member gang involved in ATM Card fraud across Maharashtra, apprehending the suspects in Thane district, according to an official report released on Thursday.
Superintendent of Police Balasaheb Patil stated that after an extensive investigation, the Palghar Police arrested the four suspects who were hiding in the towns of Titwala and Ulhasnagar in Thane district.
The accused were identified as Kismat M. Shaikh, 27; his brother Hasmat B. Shaikh, 32; Haresh R. Pradhan, 21 - all from Kalyan, and Deepak B. Jha, who was apprehended in Ulhasnagar after the others confessed during intense interrogation.
SP Patil mentioned that on September 27, a senior citizen, Bhagwan N. Hatekar, 67, filed a complaint regarding ATM fraud with the Palghar Police.
Hatekar reported that he visited the ATM to withdraw money from his Bank of India account that day.
At that moment, three strangers approached him, offering assistance to withdraw cash from the machine, to which he consented.
However, using a clever trick, the trio managed to switch his ATM card with a different one, handed it back to him, and forcibly withdrew Rs 50,000 from his account before fleeing.
Taking this complaint seriously, SP Patil, along with Additional SP Vinayak Narle, Crime Branch Police Inspector Pradeep Patil, and others initiated a three-month investigation.
A dedicated team, including police officer Rohit Khot, launched a search for the trio, and based on a tip-off, located them in Titwala.
A special team was dispatched, successfully apprehending the three suspects: the Shaikh brothers and Pradhan, along with Jha from Ulhasnagar.
During police questioning, the four suspects admitted their involvement, leading to the recovery of a second-hand white SUV used in various frauds, along with Rs 30,000 in cash.
SP Patil explained that the gang's modus operandi involved waiting for unsuspecting victims, engaging them in conversation, and using deceptive tactics to obtain their ATM card PIN details for later misuse.
Further investigations revealed that they had been luring and defrauding individuals across Maharashtra with 19 similar fraud cases reported in Palghar, Nagpur, Thane, and other regions.
The Palghar Police, with assistance from the Cyber Police Cell, are currently working to identify the broader network of this online scam that may extend beyond Maharashtra to other states, as stated by a police official.
