Man caught while running away with ATM card of senior citizen; FIR lodged in Kalain

Fraud and scam have reached a different high in Cachar. In broad daylight, a senior citizen was scammed inside an ATM booth very cunningly by a pretentious bystander in the queue. This incident happened in the Kalain area of Cachar. But due to the prompt response of the locals there, the runaway fraud could be caught and later handed over to the Police.

On Thursday afternoon, Bijay Debnath went inside the State Bank of India’s ATM booth in Kalain to withdraw money. But due to unavailability of cash in the ATM, the transaction didn’t go through. A man behind him who was also in the queue asked Debnath for his card and said the balance of his account must be low. During that transaction, he asked Debnath to enter the PIN and while doing so the “helpful” stranger followed the security PIN. After the transaction was over, that person who was later identified as Ziaul Haq Choudhury, handed over Debnath’s ATM card hastily and ran away.

Speaking about the shocking turn of events, Debnath said, “I thought he is just a helpful guy and that my account balance might be low. Little did I know that he is such a fraudster. After I entered the PIN to check the balance, he followed the PIN completely. When I ask him to return my ATM card, he handed over the ATM card hastily and started running away. For a moment, I couldn’t understand what just happened but I was panic-stricken when I saw that the card he handed to me was not my card. I cried for help while running behind him”.

Seeing the senior citizen running and calling for help, the locals gathered as well and with their help, Ziaul was apprehended and later handed over to the Kalain Police.

Debnath has also lodged an FIR against Ziaul Haq Choudhury in the Kalain Police Station. The Police arrested him with sufficient evidence on him. He was also carrying multiple ATM cards with him, all having different customer names. If the locals didn’t offer to help, Ziaul could withdraw all the money in the account or use it for any transaction.