Surat: Surat Police nabbed two migrants for duping ATM visitors using a unique modus operandi. According to the Police, Vinay Pandya (58), a resident of Balaji flats in Udhna, works in GIDC Khatodara. On April 12th, around 10:30 am, he visited an SBI ATM near Sosyo circle to withdraw Rs. 10,000. Although he heard the sound of cash dispensation, no cash came out of the machine.

Pandya concluded that there might be an error in the machine, and the transaction could have failed. Later, he was shocked to receive a bank message confirming the cash withdrawal. Similarly, on April 26th, Shailesh Jariwala, based in Kharwar Nagar, faced the same issue. Both separately approached Udhna Police, and Inspector SN Desai stationed a watch outside the ATM.

During surveillance, two migrants, Rameshchandra Mishra and Rajnikant Dikshit, were apprehended. They had withdrawn cash from ATMs in Sachin, Sachin GIDC, Palsana, and Kamrej using a unique modus operandi of fitting an aluminum strip with the cash dispenser.

The strip was a little bigger than the size of currency notes. After the successful transaction by the customer, cash would reach the dispenser space but get stuck due to the aluminum strip. The customer would assume the transaction had failed. However, as soon as the customer left the ATM chamber, both thugs would enter, remove the aluminum strip, and collect the money. DeshGujarat