Baripada: Police have arrested a man and a woman for ATM fraud.

The two allegedly targeted elderly people from whom they took the actual card and returned a fake card.

Besides seizing 44 cards of different banks, the police seized Rs 44,500 from the their possession. The cops also seized an SUV from them.

Residents caught them while their two associates, including the mastermind, fled.

The police said on Wednesday evening, the two accused had been trying to take away a debit card from a teacher, Nagen Khilar, when he had come to withdraw money from the SBI ATM at Takatpur.

When he raised an alarm, a crowd gathered and caught two of the four accused.

The two arrested initially tried to mislead the police by giving false identities.

However, they were later identified as Baby Maharana of Charmapa, Bhadrak, and Mukesh Das of Bhuyanipur in Kendrapara sadar police station limits.

Baby had initially claimed she was an artist and had threatened to take action against the people who had caught her.

During interrogation, the police learnt that the two had been involved in a number of similar crimes.

Sub-divisional police officer Abhimanyu Nayak said a case had been registered under section 392 (robbery) and 420 (cheating) of the IPC.

He said the two who had fled from the scene were identified as Balaram Sahu and Dipuna. Balaram is wanted by police in Kendrapara, Jagatsingpur and Bhardak districts.

"These goons are members of a group. At the ATM counters, they used to confuse people who came to withdraw money. In the process, they collected their PIN number and swapped their ATM cards tactfully," said Nayak, adding they would be forwarded to court after interrogation.