Man held for ATM fraud in Okhla area

New Delhi: A 28-year-old man has been arrested in Okhla Industrial Area for allegedly withdrawing money from bank accounts of people after swapping their ATM cards on the pretext of helping them, police said Sunday.

The accused, Esha Khan, a resident of Palwal, Haryana was nabbed last week from Okhla Industrial Area while he was going to target another person, they said. Khan used to come from his hometown and targeted people in industrial or low suburban areas. He used to search for an ATM booth where no guard was on duty and the machine was not functional or out of cash, police said.

With his arrest, police claimed to have solved three cases. On July 4, a woman alleged that she went to withdraw cash from an ATM booth in Okhla Industrial Area but the machine was not working properly. She took the help of a person standing in the booth.

After a while, she received a message on her mobile phone regarding withdrawal of Rs 30,000 from her bank account and transaction worth Rs 42,790, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast) Chinmoy Biswal said.

On contacting the bank, the woman found that the money was withdrawn using her ATM card. When she rechecked her card, she found that it had been swapped at the ATM booth, the DCP said. In a CCTV footage, the accused was seen standing behind the woman at the booth and noticing her ATM PIN when she was withdrawing money, the official said.

On the pretext of helping the woman, he swapped the ATM cards and withdrew Rs 30,000 from her bank account and purchased two mobile phones worth Rs 42,790 using the card, the DCP said. Two smartphones, Rs 30,000 cash and 20 ATM cards have been seized from Khan, he said.

The accused disclosed he wanted to lead a lavish life and in order to earn quick money he planned to cheat people by swapping their ATM cards and withdrawing money from their bank accounts, police said.