Noida: Former IAF officer loses ₹67 lakh in ATM card fraud, 2 held

Greater Noida: Police on Wednesday arrested two persons in connection with a cyber fraud worth ₹67 lakh. The police said that the duo fraudulently withdrew the money from the bank account of a former IAF officer.

Chetan Singh, the complainant in the case, said that his father Suresh Kumar Yadav is a retired wing commander and presently lives in Myanmar. According to him, a group of criminals got Yadav’s mobile number (linked to the bank account) reissued on forged documents and also managed to get a new debit card issued, and then used the card to fraudulently withdraw the money from ATMs and also for shopping gold.

The complainant said that his father shifted to Myanmar about 10 months ago. “My father has an account with a private bank in Sector Alpha 1. We had a good relation with the bank manager who was transferred to other branch a few months ago,” Singh said.

Singh further said that the mobile phone number linked to his father’s bank account was presently not in use. “On October 6 last year, the same manager informed us that there was some suspicious transactions from my father’s bank account. We visited the bank and found that ₹67 lakh was fraudulently withdrawn from my father’s account in the first week of October,” he said.

The account holder did not receive any notification of transaction at registered email ID, he said.

Singh then filed a complaint at Sector Beta 2 police station and a case was registered against unknown persons under Section 66 of IT Act on October 31 last year.

Vishal Pandey, additional deputy commissioner of police, Greater Noida, said that on Wednesday, the police arrested two suspects – Satish Rana, a resident of Bagpat, and Anuj Singh, a resident of Bulandshahr. Both suspects live on rented accommodations in Greater Noida.

“The two suspects admitted that they had committed the crime. They were in contact with their accomplices -- Pradeep Rana and mastermind Ravi. Primary investigation suggests that Ravi was in touch with a bank employee, who leaked the information about Yadav’s account,” Pandey said.

Police said that the account holder’s linked phone number was not active for some months. “The gang members visited a mobile shop and got the same mobile number issued on forged identity. Once the number became active, they called the bank’s customer care and asked to deliver the debit card afresh,” Pandey said.

The bank delivered the debit card to the account holder’s address, but the suspects received the delivery from the delivery boy on the way, said the police. “The suspects got the debit card, along with PIN, and withdrew ₹11 lakh cash from different ATMs. Further, they also bought gold coins from some jewellery shops using the card. The actual account holder had no information about this transaction. We scanned CCTV footage from different spots and then arrested the two suspects,” Pandey said.

Police have launched a search for the bank employee and two other suspects in the case.