ITANAGAR, 5 Sep: The Itanagar police recently arrested one Tabi Hilli (29), of Higor village in Shi-Yomi district, currently residing in Pachin Colony, for ATM theft.
A stolen scooter was also recovered from the accused.
Capital SP Rohit Rajbir Singh in a release on Tuesday informed that the police received a complaint from the chief manager (operations) of the SBI, Itanagar, on 31 August regarding repeated incidents of damage to its ATMs and fraudulent transactions reported from different locations in the Itanagar Capital Region in the past few months.
“Upon receipt of the written complaint, a case (u/s 380/427 IPC r/w Section 3 PDPP Act) was registered, and a team comprising Itanagar PS OC Inspector K Yangfo, Inspector S Roy, SIs AK Jha and Tate Diri, and Constables Sandeep Yadav and Nabam Chakam, under Itanagar SDPO Kengo Dirchi, was constituted,” the release stated.
Following close analysis of CCTV footages from in and around the affected areas, the police team was able to zero down on a suspect. “The team laid a trap on 3 September in the evening hours, and the accused was arrested from near Gandhi Market, opposite Heema Hospital,” the SP informed.
“Upon detailed interrogation, the perpetrator revealed that he used to insert a piece of stone/iron in the shutter assembly of ATMs. Thus, when a customer tried to withdraw money, the money would get stuck in the assembly, but the amount would be deducted from the customer’s account. Subsequently, it was seen that, when the customer leaves the ATM booth, thinking of possible ATM defects, the perpetrator enters the ATM booth immediately, removes the stone with the help of a key, and extracts the money that comes out from the shutter,” the SP said.
“It has also been revealed that the accused has been committing such crimes since 2019. More than 100 such attempts have been made by him over these years, of which 26 attempts were made at the ATM of Zero Point, Itanagar, itself,” the SP added.
According to the police, the accused has stolen over Rs 4 lakhs worth of currency notes till date.
