Palghar, Sep 23 A man allegedly used a concealed walkie-talkie to trick a woman at an ATM kiosk in Maharashtra’s Palghar district and steal Rs 2.9 lakh from her bank account, police said on Wednesday.
The incident took place on September 14, when complainant Sameera Musharraf Khan visited an ATM centre in Shivaji Nagar, Boisar. After she successfully withdrew Rs 27,000, her debit card became stuck inside the machine, an official said.
As she attempted to retrieve it, a voice said she was being watched through the security camera. The voice allegedly told her not to force the card out and instead directed her to type her PIN three times while pressing the ‘cancel’ and ‘enter’ buttons.
When the card remained trapped, the voice told her to leave her contact details behind, assuring her that a technician would return the card the following day, the official said.
Believing the instructions, Khan left the booth but soon got a message that Rs 2.9 lakh had been withdrawn from her bank account. She then approached the Boisar police station with a complaint.
Using technical surveillance and local intelligence, police arrested Jitendra Ramdev Pal, who lives in Thane. Pal told the police that he had concealed a walkie-talkie inside the kiosk and issued instructions to Khan through it.
Police have recovered Rs 2.6 lakh and a walkie-talkie set from Pal, the official said, adding that a probe was underway.
(PTI News)
