News, Kerala: Three foreigners suspected to have stolen lakhs in a hi-tech ATM robbery in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram have been caught in CCTV camera footage. A Romanian among them has been arrested from Mumbai.
The suspect, identified as Gabriel Marian, was taken into custody in Mumbai last evening when he tried to withdraw Rs 100 by using a cloned ATM card, police sources said here today.
ADGP(Additional Director General of Kerala Police) B Sandhya later told reporters that as foreigners were suspected to be involved in the fraud, Kerala Police would seek the help of Interpol to nab the culprits.
“We will seek the help of Interpol. We are collecting evidence now,” she said.
CCTV Footage
Footage shows the men entering the ATMs and fixing an electronic device that the police said helped them scan account details and pin codes of those who came to draw money. The details were used to make fake ATM cards that were used in Mumbai and Delhi.
At least 22 people have complained that they received text messages on Monday about large amounts of money withdrawn from their accounts. In this film-style ATM robbery, around 20 people lost about Rs 4.5 lakhs in Thiruvananthapuram said the Kerala police.
The money was reportedly withdrawn from ATMs in Mumbai and Delhi. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) team on Tuesday left for Mumbai to carry out further investigations.
Watch CCTV Camera Footage of Hi-Tech ATM Robbery here:
Police sources say they are trying to establish through experts how they collected the data and whether more people were involved.
“We examined the visuals of the CCTV and got the pictures of three foreigners. We suspect that they had a hand in the ATM robbery,” said a police officer, adding, “We are also probing whether more persons were involved in the crime.”
SBI has promised to refund customers whose money was stolen.