Warje Malwadi Police arrested two men from Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh, on Thursday for tampering with a cash dispensing machine at a cooperative bank in Warje, resulting in the theft of Rs 35,800. The accused Santoshi Kumar Saroj (30) and Pradip Kumar Maurya (28) used a flap mechanism to divert cash from the ATM machine.
The duo strategically placed the flap under the cash dispenser so that whenever customers withdrew money, the notes would accumulate in the flap instead of dispensing to the customer. As a result, customers would leave the ATM without receiving the cash, but their accounts were still debited for the transactions.
Between March 31 and April 22 this year, multiple complaints were filed by customers from the bank and other financial institutions, alerting the bank to the irregularities. Upon further investigation, the bank officials discovered a discrepancy of Rs 35,800 after reviewing the ATM’s transaction logs. When checking the machine, they found the flap placed under the dispenser.
On April 22, the bank officials decided to monitor the kiosk. The following night, they observed the duo entering the ATM kiosk and placing the flap. They quickly locked the men inside and contacted the police.
Upon arrival, the Warje Malwadi police arrested the suspects and recovered two flaps along with Rs 9,000. The accused confessed that they had been using the flap to collect stolen cash from the ATM after customers unknowingly withdrew it. The duo would visit the kiosk after several days to retrieve the accumulated money.
According to Police sub-inspector Sachin Tarade, the accused claimed they traveled to Pune with the intent to steal cash from ATMs, targeting machines without security guards, like the one at Warje. They had been staying on the footpaths near Warje Malwadi.
Both men have been remanded to police custody until Saturday, April 26, as the police continue their investigation into the ATM fraud.
