24-year-old man arrested for ATM fraud in Tiruvannamalai

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A 24-year-old man was arrested on Friday for stealing ₹16,500 from a pensioner at Vandavasi near Tiruvannamalai a few days ago. The pensioner had sought his help to withdraw money from an ATM.

Police said the arrested person has been identified as M. Sivanantham, a resident of Ariyalur district. A few days ago, pensioner K. Ellumalai, 62, who retired as a government bus driver, visited an ATM on Sannithi Street to withdraw ₹5,000 from his account.

Not knowing how to use the machine, Mr Ellumalai sought the help of accused Sivanantham, who was waiting outside. After pretending to withdraw money from the machine, Mr Sivanantham told the pensioner that his debit card was not working. He replaced the original card with a duplicate and gave it to him.

When Mr. Ellumalai got home, he got a message on his phone that ₹16,500 had been debited from his account. He immediately checked with the bank in the city and realized that his money had been stolen.

He then filed a complaint with the Vandavasi South Police, who checked the CCTV footage. They picked up Sivanantham at the old bus stand where he was waiting to board a bus to Kancheepuram.

Police recovered the stolen amount from him and seized three duplicate ATM cards. Initial investigation revealed that accused Sivanantham already had six criminal cases in Ariyalur.

He is locked up in Vandavasi jail.