Keonjhar police bust ATM card-swapping racket, arrest 4

Keonjhar: Town police on Saturday arrested four members of an interstate ATM fraud gang accused of targeting senior citizens and unsuspecting bank customers by swapping debit cards and siphoning off money from their accounts.The arrested men were identified as Balaram Sahu (34) of Jamra village, Mrunjay Mohapatra (39) of Taradashasan village, Manas Ranjan Pani (30) of Koilirangi village under Nemol police station in Cuttack district, and Purnachandra Mallick (25) of Girigola village under Sadar police station in Kendrapara district.Police seized a car, 232 ATM/debit cards linked to different bank accounts, nine mobile phones and Rs 12,260 in cash from their possession.“The arrests were made during the investigation of a case registered on May 12 on the complaint of Ramesh Chandra Mahanta of Badamanohar village in Keonjhar district,” said Keonjhar SDPO Sudarshan Gangoi.Town police station IIC Srikant Sahu said the gang followed a well-planned modus operandi. One member would closely watch customers entering their PINs at ATM kiosks, while another would distract the victim and replace the original ATM card with a fake one. Using the stolen cards and PINs, the gang would quickly withdraw money from ATMs before the victims realised the fraud. To evade detection, the accused frequently travelled across districts in vehicles and carried out offences in different parts of the state, police said.Investigators found that Balaram alone was involved in more than 50 ATM fraud cases registered in different districts of Odisha. Further probe is underway to ascertain the gang’s wider network and involvement in similar crimes, police added.