Cheats who swapped ATM cards with fake ones held in Munirka

95 stolen ATM cards and some stolen cash were recovered from a gang of cheats. Police arrested three men who fraudulently exchanged credit/debit cards of ATM users with cancelled ones.

Delhi police have busted a gang of cheats and arrested three men who fraudulently exchanged credit/debit cards of ATM users with cancelled ones and later withdraw money using them.

Police identified the gang leader kingpin as Mohammad Sakib, whose gang fraudulently exchanged credit/debit cards of ATM users with cancelled ones and later withdraw money using them. . (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

As many as 95 stolen ATM cards and some stolen cash were recovered from them. The three men were arrested following a chase in south Delhi’s Munirka on Monday night, during which one of them opened fire, police said .

Police identified the gang leader kingpin as Mohammad Sakib, a BSc graduate involved in at least five cases of cheating and thefts in Telangana. His two associates are Adil from Ballabhgarh and Abid, a wrestler from Palwal.

Deputy commissioner of police (crime) Rajesh Deo said a number of people recently reported they were targeted by a gang that hoodwinked them into changing their ATM cards and withdrew money later.

“A team gathered information about the suspects. We zeroed in on Sakib. We received information he would come near Munirka metro station in a Chevrolet car on Monday night and would possibly be armed,” Deo said.

A crime branch team lay in wait near the metro station. “Soon as the vehicle was spotted, our men intercepted the car. There were three occupants inside. Asked to stop, the driver sped towards Nelson Mandela Road,” Deo said.

The DCP said his men then chased the car and intercepted it near the Coolie Camp traffic signal near Kishangarh. “Sakib got off the car and opened fire. Since there were people around, our team did not return fire. As one team engaged the trio, the other team overpowered them before Sakib could open fire again,” he said.

The men told police they targeted elderly people and those who are not familiar with ATMs. “They said they carried a number of cancelled debit and credit cards of different banks and used to swap users’ cards on the pretext of helping them. They used to memorise the pin numbers and later used the card to withdraw money,” the officer said