The SHO of the Hussainganj Police Station said the accused often targeted secluded ATMs that were unguarded. In addition, the elderly are also their main target.
Post Date – 09:00 AM, Tuesday – July 23rd 18th
Lucknow: Two Pratapgarh residents have been arrested by Lucknow Hussainganj Police for allegedly tampering with ATM machines and stealing money.
DCP (Centre) Aparna Rajat Kaushik said: “They use plastic clips to block the part of the ATM where the notes are dispensed. When users come to withdraw money, they have to return empty-handed, and then the thief goes back to the machine, removes the clip, and withdraws the cash .”
She added: “The thieves have been identified as Pankaj Yadav and Mehtab Hassan, both residents of Pratapgarh. They were arrested on Monday with the help of CCTV installed inside the ATM. Back in 2020, The accused duo had been arrested in Pratapgarh for other cases,” the DCP added.
SHO Jitendra Pratap Singh of the Hussainganj police station said the defendants often target secluded ATMs that are unguarded. In addition, the elderly are also their main target.
“We had several complaints about ATMs not being able to withdraw cash. When users called the bank, they were told that their cash had been dispensed and collected. This helped us to find a clue. We scanned the closed circuits of several ATMs in the Hussainganj area TV footage to capture them,” he added.
Singh further said, “These individuals have been registered with various IPC departments and cash worth Rs 29,000 was also recovered.”
