An inter-State gang of ATM looters involved in more than 100 cases were nabbed by the Rourkela police on Wednesday. Cash of Rs 4 lakh, three cars, swiping machines and 50 ATM cards were seized from their possession, informed police.
The 11- member gang hailing from Bihar and Jharkhand had looted people of more than Rs 1 crore in different online fraud cases. At least 30 cases have been registered against the gang members in Jharsuguda, Sundargarh and Angul districts, reports said.
Acting on a tipoff, the police nabbed the gang while it was hatching a plan to carry out a robbery in a bank near Hockey Chhak here.
As per their modus operandi, the looters used to apply some kind of glue on switches of the ATMs leaving them defunct. Waiting at the kiosks, they would offer to help the ATM card holders and deceivingly swipe the cards on their own swiping machines, thus transferring the money to a different account.
The looters basically targeted the ATMs located in village and mining areas, informed the police. “We are interrogating the accused to elicit more information about their network.
There could be more members in the gang,” the police said.