As per the report, a local resident Sabyasachi Panda had been to withdraw money from an Axis Bank ATM in the morning when the gang struck. After Panda withdrew Rs 10,000 through his ATM card but struggled for a second transaction of an equal amount, one of the four accused who were roaming near the kiosk offered him a help.
But Sabyasachi smelled rat after the man tried to swipe his card in a suspicious looking gadget. As he raised an alarm, the accused threatened him and tried to escape from the spot.
Some locals immediately swung into action to overpower and detain the accused. He was later handed over to a joint team of Bolangir and Titlagarh Police though all three of his aides managed to escape from the spot.
Later a joint operation by Bolangir and Titlagarh Police based on the information extracted from the held accused yielded result and two other accused were caught.
The held accused have been identified as Sanjeeb, Sumit and Kuldeep. All are residents of Haryana State.
The trio was cloning the ATM cards of gullible customers through a skimmer machine and to withdraw money from those later, informed Bolangir SDPO T Bag.
Two skimmer machines, two ATM cards, one mobile phone and Rs 17000 cash has been seized from the accused, Sumit. Similarly, 13 debit cards, 2 mobile phones and Rs 20,000 in cash have been seized from another accused Kuldeep.
Efforts are underway by police to nab another member of the gang who is still at large.
