Bhubaneswar: Nayapalli police arrested one person, identified as Madhav Acharya of Kendrapada district, residing in Salia Sahi here, on charges of stealing money from ATM kiosks.
Acharya was arrested on the basis of a complaint filed by victim Ranjit Senapati July 1, 2016. Senapati alleged he went to an ATM booth of State Bank of Travancore to draw cash and the amount was debited from his account but he did not get the money. ‘‘Subsequently, CCTV footage showed Acharya was collecting the money from the ATM immediately after Senapati left the spot,” police said, adding `1.5 lakh was recovered from Acharya.
“Acharya usually targeted senior citizens and women at the ATM booths. He used to observe customers’ finger movement and remember their password. Once a customer inserts his ATM card and enters the password, Acharya used to cleverly intervene and press cancel button. After a few futile attempts to withdraw cash, Acharya used to persuade customers to leave the ATM booth and assert that the machines were not working. Soon after the customers exits, he used to enter the password and withdraw the money,” Nayapalli police station IIC Suryamani Pradhan told Orissa POST.
Sources said Acharya, who claims to have learnt the art of stealing by watching crime thrillers on video YouTube, owns two buses and runs a wayside eatery.
Earlier in June, Khandagiri police had arrested Acharya in connection with the case and seized his two buses bearing registration numbers (OD-02-AQ-0877), (OR-05D-1747), one Hyundai i10 car bearing registration number (OD-02-AC-1936) and `60, 000 in cash. Meanwhile, police said they had registered a case (208/16) in this regard under stringent sections so that Acharya does not get bail easily.
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