A man who fraudulently withdrew ₹47,500 from the bank account of a Maloya resident after swapping his debit card at an ATM in 2019 has been sentenced to two-year rigorous imprisonment by a local court.
The court of judicial magistrate Renu Goyal also imposed a fine of ₹5,000 on the convict, Sajan of Dadumajra village.
As per the victim, Suresh Kumar Goal, he was facing trouble while withdrawing money from an ATM in Maloya on October 2, 2019. Meanwhile, a man in the ATM vestibule started talking to him. Later, ₹47,500 were mysteriously withdrawn from his bank account between October 2 and 5. He then realised that his debit card was swapped by the man talking to him and used to steal his money.
The accused was arrested on November 12, 2019, after the complainant identified him.
During trial, the prosecution examined eight witnesses, including police and bank officials, along with the victim, who all supported its version.
The court took note of the fact that on the accused’s disclosure, ₹40,000 in cash and the victim’s debit card were recovered from his house. It also observed that CCTV footage of the incident was on record, while the defence counsel’s arguments regarding delay in lodging FIR and not withdrawing money in the presence of the complainant were not tenable.
{{/usCountry}}The court took note of the fact that on the accused’s disclosure, ₹40,000 in cash and the victim’s debit card were recovered from his house. It also observed that CCTV footage of the incident was on record, while the defence counsel’s arguments regarding delay in lodging FIR and not withdrawing money in the presence of the complainant were not tenable.
{{/usCountry}}Hence, the court convicted the accused under Sections 420 (cheating) and 411 (dishonestly receiving stolen property) of the Indian Penal Code, and sentenced him to two-year rigorous imprisonment.