Two employees of a public sector bank have been arrested by the Hunsur town police for allegedly misusing the ATM card of a bank customer and fraudulently withdrawing Rs. 6.96 lakh from her account.
The complainant Roopa, a native of Pakshirajapura village in Hunsur taluk who is working abroad, was shocked to find the amount withdrawn from her account in the State Bank of India’s Hunsur town branch when she returned earlier this month. After bank officials lodged a complaint with the Hunsur town police, a special team to catch the culprits was formed.
Based on CCTV footage obtained from automated teller machines (ATMs), the police arrested Mahadevaswamy, a ‘D’ group employee of the bank’s Hunsur town branch, and Mahadeva, also a ‘D’ group employee in the bank’s Srirampura branch in Mysuru, for misusing an ATM card issued in the name of the complainant.
Police said Roopa had applied for an ATM card in August 2013 before going abroad. When the card and password were sent to her address by registered post, it was returned to the bank as she was not at home. Mahadevaswamy managed to lay his hands on the returned items. He and Mahadeva began withdrawing money using the ATM card. Sub-inspector of Hunsur Town Police station Lava Kumar told The Hindu that the accused had withdrawn money from the victim’s account in a total of 59 transactions over a period of six months.
“While Mahadeva would enter the ATM wearing a helmet, the main accused Mahadevaswamy used to come to check the balance without wearing a helmet. He was probably under the impression that he would not be trapped if he only checked the balance. So, he was sending Mahadeva to withdraw the cash while he himself used to only check the balance once in a while,” Mr. Kumar said.
The police managed to crack the case with the help of CCTV images of Mahadevaswamy, he added. The police have recovered the ATM card and Rs. 95,000 from the duo.
