Silchar, April 8: An elderly man was yesterday swindled by two youths who fraudulently switched his debit card at an ATM counter here.

Narrating the incident today, Sukesh Chandra Paul, 69, a retired Assam State Electricity Board employee, said, "Around 8.45am yesterday, I went to an ATM counter on Hailakandi Road (opposite SBI New Silchar branch). Two youths were inside doing something on the ATM machine. As I entered, they stepped aside and let me withdraw money. When I inserted my card into the slot, the screen displayed the card was not inserted properly. I tried a couple of times but to no avail. One of the youths then took the card and entered into the slot but the screen displayed the same message. He tried again following which normal screen appeared. The youth operated the ATM card on my behalf, first withdrawing Rs 16,000 and then Rs 14,000. He gave me a card and I returned home.

"After a few hours, I received two text messages on my mobile phone that Rs 7,500 had been transferred to another account and Rs 10,000 had been withdrawn. I immediately contacted the bank. They asked me my account and card numbers and told me that the account number was not matching with my card number. I realised then that my card had been switched," he added.

SBI sources said Rs 7,500 was transferred to an account in the bank's Goreswar branch in Kamrup district. The account is not KYC-verified. Both the transactions (cash and account transfer) were done from an ATM near Ramakrishna petrol pump in Tarapur. Paul's debit card was blocked after he visited the bank and narrated the incident. He lodged an FIR with Rangirkhari police outpost last evening.

B. Chetry, in-charge of the police outpost, said they have started investigations. "The picture will become clearer after we receive the CCTV footage on Monday," he said.