Thane: Ten persons booked for stealing Rs 25.65 lakh through ATM tampering

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Ten persons have been booked in Kalyan in Thane district for allegedly tampering with ATMs and withdrawing Rs 25.65 lakh over a period of several days, a police official said on Friday, reported news agency PTI.

In the first FIR registered at Manpada police station, four unidentified persons withdrew money fraudulently from three ATMs between September 26 and October 3, the official said, reported PTI.

In the second FIR lodged at Dombivali police station, six persons have been booked for tampering with an ATM and withdrawing Rs 18.99 lakh between September 25 and October 2, he said.

"The ATMs are of the same bank. The amount withdrawn in this manner stands at Rs 25.65 lakh. Efforts are on to nab the 10 accused," the official told PTI.

Meanwhile, the police in Maharashtra's Thane city have arrested two persons for their alleged role in a financial crime that involved breaching the system of a payment gateway service provider and siphoning off more than Rs 16,180 crore, an official said on Friday, reported PTI.

The police on Thursday arrested Anup Dubey (26) of Bhayander, and Mumbai resident Sanjay Namdeo Gaikwad (42), a partner in a firm, the official told PTI.

According to the police, the fraud had been taking place for a long time, but it came to light after a complaint was lodged with the Srinagar police station about the hacking of the payment gateway system of the company in April 2023 and Rs 25 crore being siphoned off, reported PTI.

During the probe, the cyber cell team came across suspicious transactions of more than Rs 16,180 crore. The Naupada police in the city on October 6 registered a case against five persons under sections 420 (cheating), 409 (criminal breach of trust), 467, 468 (forgery), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) and provisions of the Information Technology Act, reported PTI.

As per the FIR, one of the accused, named Jitendra Pandey, earlier worked for 8 to 10 years with banks as a relationship and sales manager, reported PTI.

The police suspect there may be many players in this mega racket, which has been going on for long, and may have pan-India ramifications affecting several companies and individuals, the official told PTI.

The police had earlier said that the accused allegedly set up several partnership firms on bogus documents to launder the amount.

As many as five partnership firms were set up by the accused, and transactions to the tune of Rs 16,180 crore were revealed after the inspection of 260 bank statements, police had said, reported PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)