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Ludhiana man catches thief who stole his debit card, withdrew ₹17K
Accused used to target labourers, swap their cards on the pretext of helping them, say cops
A resident of Manjit Colony managed to catch hold of a fraudster, who had allegedly withdrawn ₹ 17,500 from his account after snatching his debit card, with the help of locals on Friday.
The accused was thrashed by the people who caught him before he was handed over to the police.
The Tibba police have registered a first information report (FIR) against the accused and initiated investigation.
22 debits cards recovered
The accused has been identified as Rohit Shama, 30, a resident of Daba Road’s Jain Colony. From his possession, the police have recovered 22 debit cards and a bike.
The complainant, Mohammad Wasim, 25, of Tibba Road’s Manjit Colony, is a labourer.
He said on February 28, he had gone to withdraw cash from an ATM. “When I reached State Bank of India’s ATM kiosk on Tibba Road, the accused turned up there and snatched my debit card before fleeing on a motorcycle,” he told the police.
Wasim said he had written the PIN number of his debit card on its cover. “It helped the accused in easily withdrawing ₹17,500 from my account,” he added.
How he was caught
On Friday, the victim spotted the accused on Tibba Road. He raised alarm and nabbed the accused with the help of locals.
Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Vinod Kumar, who is investigating the case, said that the FIR has been registered under Sections 379-B (snatching) and 380 (theft) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
He said during investigation, they recovered 22 debit cards from his possession, which he had snatched from people.
The ASI added that the accused was active in Tibba Road, Focal Point, Chandigarh Road and Daba areas that have most of the migrant population.
“He used to target labourers and swap their debit cards with fake ones on the pretext of helping them in withdrawing cash. Later, the accused would steal cash from their account using their cards,” the ASI said.
“We are examining the previous criminal record of the accused. We are expecting to extract more relevant information from him during questioning,” he added.
