Man duping gullible ATM users arrested

A 30-year-old man who stole cash from people on the pretext of helping them withdraw money from ATMs was arrested by Bagalakunte police on Tuesday.

Police said Arun Kumar, a habitual offender involved in half-a-dozen cheating cases, stood before ATM kiosks without security guards and targeted people needing help to withdraw money. Following a complaint by Nagaraju, one of Kumar’s victims, police verified CCTV footage and arrested Kumar from Tumakuru.

A senior police official said Kumar stood near ATMs and offered to help farmers and villagers to help withdraw cash. Kumar would take their PIN while helping them, divert their attention and give them a duplicate card. He would later use the stolen card to withdraw money. Though he operated in semi-urban areas before, he recently moved to Bengaluru. The officer added that Kumar used the same method to dupe more than six people and stole Rs 1.6 lakh. Police recovered valuables from him amounting to Rs 1.6 lakh.

In 2019, Tumakuru police arrested Kumar for the same offence and remanded him to judicial custody. But once he walked out of jail, Kumar moved to the city to continue committing the crime.