PANAJI
The Bicholim police have arrested two youths from Haryana for allegedly duping a 79-year-old retired serviceman of Rs 40,000 by fraudulently swapping his ATM card and carrying out multiple cash withdrawals.
The accused identified as Sanjay Maheswal (33) and Sonu Kumar (32), both from Hissar district in Haryana were arrested early Friday morning near a Guest House in Calangute.
At a press conference, Superintendent of Police (North) Rahul Gupta said the duo accosted Vasudev Sawant at the SBI ATM in Bicholim, around 3.15 pm on June 25; and pretending to assist him with a transaction, they discreetly swapped his debit card. This card was subsequently used at the Central Bank of India ATM in Bordem to make four unauthorised withdrawals of Rs 10,000 each.
“The incident was particularly grave as it involved cheating a senior citizen. Based on the complaint and seriousness of the crime, technical surveillance and local intelligence were mobilised,” he stated.
During the investigation, police tracked two Goa-registered rental scooters hired by the accused. “The ownership was traced to a Calangute-based rental service run by Kishor Divkar. This led the team to Calangute, where they identified and nabbed the accused,” the SP said, adding that further investigation is underway to ascertain whether the duo is involved in similar crimes elsewhere.
