Borivali CA loses ₹6.72 lakh after thieves steal debit, credit cards during cricket match

A CA lost ₹6.72 lakh after his cards were stolen while playing cricket at Cross Maidan. FIR filed, police investigating under various sections.

A 28-year-old Chartered Accountant (CA) working with a multinational professional services company lost around ₹6.72 lakh after some unidentified accused stole his debit and credit cards while he was busy playing cricket at Cross Maidan in Marine Lines on Monday. The accused changed the PINs of both the cards, withdrew cash, and purchased gold jewellery using the cards.

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The Azad Maidan police have registered an FIR based on a complaint lodged by Vivek Dave, 28, a resident of Borivali who works as a chartered accountant for a multinational audit firm.

The police said they have registered a case against unknown people under sections 379 (theft), 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, and under relevant sections of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

According to the police, Dave had gone to play cricket at Cross Maidan along with his colleagues on Sunday. “There were already some people in the tent as one match was already going on when the complainant and his colleagues reached the ground. Around 1:30 pm, Dave’s match started, and he kept his wallet and phone in a bag in the tent,” said the police officer.

When his match was over around 4:30 pm, he collected his bag, which was kept in the tent, took a train from Churchgate to Borivali, and on the way, he checked his phone, which was also kept in the bag. He noticed several banking transactions, including those for changing the card PINs, having taken place using his credit and debit cards.

“He had received messages showing withdrawal of an amount totaling ₹1 lakh from various ATMs near Regal Cinema, messages showing purchase of gold jewellery worth ₹1.45 lakh from Sundardas and Son’s Jewellers, worth ₹1.47 lakh from Surana Jewellers, gold jewellery worth ₹1 lakh purchased from Manish Gold Palace, and jewellery worth ₹1.11 lakh purchased from Chetna Jewellers. Thus, shopping worth a total of ₹6.72 lakh and withdrawals were done on Dave’s debit and credit cards by the unknown accused,” said a police officer.

He immediately blocked both cards and informed the Cyber Police about the incident. “He got the footage of the accused from one of the jewellers and approached us with it. He had seen the accused in the tent before playing cricket. However, he thought the accused was part of the earlier cricket team,” said the police officer.

The Azad Maidan Police said they have registered the offence and are trying to identify and trace the accused.