Two Romanian nationals were arrested by Kolkata police in New Delhi in connection with an alleged ATM fraud where ₹20 lakh were siphoned off from bank accounts. The two persons were brought to Kolkata on Saturday.
“They were arrested in New Delhi on Friday. We have recovered about 20 fake debit cards and two passports from these two Romanian nationals,” Joint Commissioner of Kolkata Police (Crime) Praveen Tripathi said. The two accused, identified as Dumitriu Colin, 32, and Oprah Ovidiu Semiyun, 30, were produced before a city court and remanded to police custody for 14 days.
Mr. Tripathi said the two accused were identified from CCTV footage of the ATMs in Kolkata when they were installing skimmer devices. The fraud came to light last week when the city police received multiple complaints of money being withdrawn from bank accounts without the authorisation and knowledge of account holders.
By August 1, the police had received 76 complaints from bank customers. The devices which copied the details of debits cards were installed in two unguarded ATMs in Gariahat in South Kolkata and Mallick Bazar in Central Kolkata. Apart from the two unguarded ATMs, complaints regarding ATMs of Kotak Mahindra Bank and Union Bank of India were also lodged. After investigation the police found that money was withdrawn from ATMs in New Delhi.
A team of city police went to New Delhi and kept a close watch on the ATMs from where the money being withdrawn. The accused were arrested police said that the duo was arrested after being tracked for their frequent visits to the ATMs and identified as the same persons who had placed skimmer devices in the Kolkata ATMs.
