Mumbai crime: Bank officials foil ATM skimming gang's fraud bid

Leads to their arrest the same day; cop team is in Kerala to nab mastermind

The police have arrested four men for alleged attempting to commit ATM fraud at Dongri in South Mumbai. The accused, identified as Mohammad Rafik Abdul Rehman, 29, Adil Mehmood, 26, Ahmad Jabir Rehman, 26, Mohammad Anas Ibrahim, 26, are from Kerala.

They allegedly attempted the fraud at the ATM kiosk of Shamrao Vithal Co-operative Bank's Dongri branch on June 12, but it was foiled by attentive bank officials.

"They had installed card skimmer and spy cameras at the kiosk near Dongri police station. A couple of bank officials visited the kiosk to make a tally report when one of them noticed something near the card swiping slot. She pulled the material out and informed the branch manager Who checked the keypad and found a spy camera and a memory card," divisional Assistant Commissioner of Police Avinash Dharmadhikari told mid-day.

Also read: One more arrest in Cosmos Bank cyber fraud case

The bank officials informed the police and were about to exit the kiosk when the accused knocked on the door and claimed their cards were stuck inside the ATM machine. However, the officials, suspecting them to be the culprits, raised an alarm and chased them.

Hearing the commotion, assistant police inspector Jabbar Tamboli alerted his colleagues at Dongri police station. The police rushed to the spot and nabbed Rafik. After interrogation, they arrested the others from Bombay Guest House. The men were trained by one Bilal, the mastermind, in Kerala.

"They were planning to leave for Kerala after committing the crime. We have seized a laptop, a card reader, a card writer encoder, dummy cards among other things from them," Tamboli said. The police have booked them under sections of the IPC and relevant sections of the IT Act. A team has been sent to arrest Bilal.

Also read: ED raids multiple locations in fraud case that cost Pune bank loss of Rs 293 crore

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