CHENNAI: A section of the public helped the police to nab ATM fraudsters by trapping them inside the ATM centre where they fixed skimmer device to siphon off ATM users’ money, on Thursday night.
According to police, an ATM user had found some ‘extra’ devices attached to Axis bank ATM on Gandhi Road, West Tambaram. “The wary customer informed the bank officials and the officials confirmed that a skimmer device had been fixed to the ATM,” a police officer said. When bank officials approached Tambaram police and the police checked CCTV footages recorded by nearby cameras.
“As the ATM lacks CCTV, footage from nearby shops were used to zero in on two persons entering the ATM at 10.30 am, on Friday,” the officer said. To nab persons red-handed, according to the police advice, bank officials and public waited outside ATM expecting the duo to come back and retrieve the device. “The two persons visited the ATM at around 11.30 pm and the public locked the shutter from outside, trapping the duo. They also informed the police,” a source said.
The duo had been identified as Sultan (51) and Sulaiman (49) of Tirunelveli, who are staying in a lodge at Kilpauk to carry out their ‘mission’. The police also said that the duo, posing as customers, started an argument with the public condemning the action of locking them inside. However, the police detained them and interrogated at the police station, during which the duo reportedly confessed to the crime and handed over the skimmer devices.
The police also suspect the duo’s hand in similar kind of incident reported in Gowrivakkam near Selaiyur, where the fraudsters used skimmer devices to make fake debit cards and fraudulently withdrawn money to the tune of Rs15 lakh.
