The two accused with Rohtas superintendent of police Vikas Burman at his office on Tuesday. Picture by Sanjay Choudhary

Two persons were arrested for duping people by replacing their ATM cards with fake ones in Rohtas on Tuesday.

Thirteen ATM cards of different banks, a cellphone and an SUV were seized from their possession.

Rohtas superintendent of police Vikas Burman said a team of officers of Manas police station apprehended two youths, Ranjeet Kumar and Mantu Kumar, when they were escaping after taking money from a resident. The victim raised an alarm after the youths took his ATM card and the money he had withdrawn from the ATM.

The arrested youths later confessed to their involvement in 13 cases lodged against them in Rohtas, Aurangabad, Nalanda, Nawada and Kaimur districts since January this year. The kingpin of the racket and native of Nasariganj (Rohtas), Rocky, was absconding, the SP said.

He said the arrested persons disclosed the names of other members of the gang and raids were on to arrest them.

Referring to the modus operandi of the gang, the SP said the members used to approach elderly people on the pretext of helping them withdraw money from the ATMs. They first enquired the pin number of the card from a victim, then key in the confidential number and give the money to the elderly person. They then replaced the original ATM card with a fake one and later withdrew money from the victim’s account.

The victims, however, realised their mistake only after the money was withdrawn from their accounts through ATMs. “The gang has its network outside the state,” he added.