Pune Police bust inter-state gang of ATM card swappers, two held
Police have recovered as many as 62 ATM cards, gold ornaments worth ₹45,000, cash worth ₹49,700 and a motorcycle worth ₹50,000 from the accused
With the arrest of two people, Vishrantwadi police have busted an inter-state gang that had been duping people by swapping their ATM cards with fake ones.
As many as 62 ATM cards, gold ornaments worth ₹45,000, cash worth ₹49,700 and a motorcycle worth ₹50,000 have been recovered from the accused.
Police officials said, with arrest, they have solved several cases of ATM fraud and they are in search of a third accused in the case.
The accused arrested have been identified as Mayank Kumar Santaram Sonkar, 27, and Kapil Rajaram Warma, 30, both residing in Dhanori and hailing from Uttar Pradesh.
During the investigation of one of the ATM fraud cases reported on September 22, at Vishrantwadi, police got a tip-off on October 1, that the accused in the ATM fraud case would be visiting Saraswat Bank ATM in the area. Police then laid a trap and arrested the duo.
Police recovered 16 debit cards from Sonkar’s possession and 9 cards from Warma’s possession and the remaining cards were seized during a house search.
During interrogation, they confessed that they targeted vulnerable and senior citizens to carry out the fraud. On the pretext of helping people, they would swap their ATM cards and later withdraw money from their bank accounts.
Dattaryaya Bhapkar, senior police inspector at Vishrantwadi police station, said, “The accused were earlier running a lottery centre in Yerawada when they came in contact with a third accused who is absconding, they got involved in ATM swapping cases.’’
The accused are habitual offenders, who had a similar case registered against him in Vishrantwadi police station.
A case has been registered against the accused at Vishrantwadi police station under sections 420 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
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