Dr.Thomas (Special Correspondent)
After five months of chase,the Chikkaballapur police on Monday arrested a 32-year-old conman from Mysore.
The accused has been identified as,BK Kiran Kumar,from Halenahalli of Mysuru.
Senior officer told reporters the accused would swap the debit cards of senior citizens visiting ATMs on the pretext of helping them withdraw money.
During investigation the accused confessed the crime and it was revealed that he would record the PIN number from his phone using which he would later withdraw the money .
The accused involved in 8 such cases reported across the state was pinned down by alert policemen on plain cloth who kept a watch on the ATMs anticipating that he would visit again.
The accused had come to an ATM situated in Chamarajapte in Shildaghatta looking for the gullible people when the police waiting for him nabbed him .
A detailed inquiry led him to confess to the crime based on which the police recovered 14 debit cards of different banks,which he had collected and cash Rs.2.4 lakh from him.
The accused would target senior citizens visiting ATMS and on the pretext of helping them to withdraw cash,would record their PIN number and replace their card with a similar looking dummy card .
Using similar Modus Operandi the accused had cheated Reddappa,a elderly man from Sulikunte village when he had visited SBI ATM on BB road in Chikkaballapura .
Using the recorded PIN and replaced debit card , the accused had withdrawn Rs.1.6 lakh and escaped .
Based on the complaint the police stepped up vigil and deployed plain cloth policemen to look for the suspect,which eventually paved the way.
