Three youth from Rajasthan arrested for ‘fraudulently’ withdrawing ₹9.5 lakh from several ATMs in Visakhapatnam

Accused took advantage of a technical glitch in the machines, says Police Commissioner

The city police on Tuesday arrested three youth from Rajasthan who have fraudulently withdrawn around ₹9.5 lakh from various ATMs of a single bank by taking advantage of a technical glitch in Visakhapatnam and Anakapalli districts.

The arrested were identified as Saikul (25), Rashid (24) and Mustkeem (21), all from Bharatpur in Rajasthan. However the kingpin in the case named Sharukh from the same area is absconding.

The police have recovered ₹6.91 lakh, 12 kg ganja, 78 ATM cards of various banks, air tickets and a vehicle from the accused.

Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, Police Commissioner Ch. Srikanth said that officials of Sri Kanakamahalakshmi Co-operative Bank, which was operating in seven districts including Visakhapatnam and Anakapalli, have noticed a mismatch between the cash uploaded and withdrawn from the ATMs. The bank representatives have noticed that about ₹9.49 lakh was missing from four ATMs of the bank at Kancharapalem, Murali Nagar, Gajuwaka and Anakapalli.

Based on the complaint from the authorities, a case was registered. During the course of their investigation, the police observed that the ATMs had a technical glitch.

“The ATM had a power source button on the other side of the machine. While withdrawing the money, just when the money comes out, the accused persons switch off the power button and then receive the cash. By doing this, the ATM machine shows error message. Though the money is received, due to transaction error, the money which is deducted is credited back into the customer’s account,” Mr. Srikanth said.

Based on the CCTV footage, the accused have identified four accused and conducted extensive searches and succeeded in locating three of the accused persons. The main accused Sharukh has been coming to Visakhapatnam since the last five years and was doing saree business. He has found about the glitch and invited Saikul, Rashid and Mustkeen.