Cops Bust Attention Diversion Gang, Four Arrested

Hyderabad: Special teams of Mehdipatnam police on Saturday busted an interstate diversion racket specializing in ATM scams and arrested four criminals. Authorities seized Rs 52,000 in cash, 89 ATM cards of different banks, three mobile phones and a rickshaw used in the crime.

Those arrested were identified as 24-year-old truck driver Aamir Suhail alias Sohail, chicken seller Mubarik (26) and 25-year-old Mustakeem, who are natives of Haryana’s Palwal district. The fourth accused, Md Amerm 33, an autorickshaw driver from Moinabad and a native of Uttar Pradesh, served as the transport provider, according to G. Chandra Mohan, DCP, South West Zone.

Chandra Mohan said the case came to light on December 28 after A. Venkatesh, an electrician from Asifnagar, filed a complaint with the Mehdipatnam police.

Venkatesh visited an ATM kiosk in Mallepally to check his mother’s account balance, being semi-literate, he sought help from two men inside the kiosk.

After noting down his PIN, the duo cleverly switched his card and returned a fake card. The DCP added that soon Venkatesh received SMS alerts of unauthorized withdrawal of Rs 40,000.

The modus operandi of the arrested people was to target elderly and illiterate people at ATM kiosks. “Under the pretext of helping them check their balance or withdraw cash, they would secretly replace a victim’s card with an unused card from their collection after memorizing their PIN,” he said.

Acting on a tip-off that the gang was hiding around an ATM at Maruti Vilas in Vijaynagar Colony to commit crimes, police teams led by detective inspector (DI) N. Ram Babu and DSI S. Sai Kiran arrested the accused, the DCP said.

“While checking Aamir’s previous criminal history from SCRB, we found that the accused is a habitual offender involved in four previous cases in Moinabad and two non-bailable warrants (NBW) are pending against him,” he said.

His partner Mubarik had a criminal history of auto theft in Haryana. Police officials advised the public not to give out their ATM cards or reveal their PIN codes to strangers.

The accused were arrested under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and sent to judicial custody.