A labourer trying to withdraw cash from an ATM in Patuli on the southeastern fringes of the city was arrested after Kolkata police received a real-time alert from the Mumbai CCTV control room of the bank about suspicious activity inside the kiosk.
Identified as Rotu Sardar, the man made no attempt to flee. He apparently told police that he was trying to take out cash using a card his contractor had given him for his work in Punjab. But the card he had was a gift card and not an ATM card, the police said.
Sardar allegedly tried to withdraw the money around 10.55pm on Saturday.
Sardar, who is originally from Joynagar in South 24-Parganas district, had worked in Punjab for a year and returned to Kolkata two months ago. He apparently told the police that his contractor had given him the card by way of settling his dues.
“He said the contractor had told him that with this card he would be able to get his dues at home. He also said he had never handled an ATM card before and hence could not tell an ATM card from a gift card,” said an officer of Patuli police station.
Sardar, who was staying in a relative’s house in Narendrapur, spent more than 15 minutes inside the ATM kiosk, making multiple attempts to withdraw money.
An alert was raised at the Mumbai headquarters of the bank, where the feed of CCTV cameras in all ATMs of the bank across the country is monitored real-time.
The CCTV control room alerted Kolkata police about some suspicious activity inside the kiosk in Patuli.
The police said Sardar, who made no attempt to flee, was taken to Patuli police station.
“The card he was carrying was not an ATM card but a gift card issued by a shopping mall. It appeared Sardar was not aware of the difference between an ATM card and a gift card and that is why he was trying to use a gift card to withdraw money from an ATM,” said the officer.
On Sunday, the police received a complaint from the bank against Sardar for attempting to cheat, steal money and cause mischief inside the ATM kiosk.
“Sardar was arrested based on the complaint,” he said.
