Two thieves held for attention diversion crime in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Two thieves, who targeted customers at ATM centres and stole their money by diverting their attention, were caught by the Asifnagar police here on Friday.

The suspects were involved in 10 cases across Hyderabad Police Commissionerate and other cities until now, police said.

Cash of Rs.1.90 lakh and 149 ATM cards of various banks, a bike and two mobile phones were seized from them.

The arrested duo is identified as Niyaz Mohammed (27), a salesman, and Nayeem Alvi (27), a taxi driver, both from Ghaziabad of Uttar Pradesh.

Police said the duo did a recce of ATM centres situated at secluded spots, identified and targeted elderly and illiterate customers, who are unable to operate the ATM machines.

“They approach the targets assuring to help them in withdrawing money and take their ATM PIN number. Keeping them in conversation, they divert the attention and exchange their debit cards and escape,” said an official. They then withdraw money from the victim’s bank account immediately.

“If the amount is huge, they approach nearby petrol pumps and swipe the card by saying that family members are admitted in the hospital and need money in an emergency,” the official said.

Based on several complaints, the Asignagar police who took up investigation examined the CCTV footage from the surveillance cameras and nabbed them.