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PUNE: Writing the PIN on the back of a debit card cost a Chikhali resident Rs 47,000 after burglar/s made away with it, along with valuables worth Rs13,000, from his house in the early hours of Monday.

The suspect/s used the debit card and the PIN written on its backside to withdraw Rs 47,000 from an ATM kiosk, leaving the Chikhali resident, Bharat Vadile, poorer by Rs 60,000 in total.

Vadile, who works for a private company and resides in More Vasti in Chikhali, was sleeping with his family on the terrace on Sunday night. “This is when the suspect/s broke into his house and decamped with cash, two cellphones, gold and silver jewellery, collectively worth Rs13,000,” Nilesh Jagdale, assistant inspector of the Chikhali police, told TOI.

“The suspect/s also found Vadile’s debit card in the house and took it along with them after finding the PIN written on its backside,” the officer said, adding, “The suspect/s went to a nearby automated teller machine (ATM) kiosk and withdrew Rs47,000 from Vadile’s bank account.”

The theft came to light when Vadile’s family woke in the morning and saw everything scattered on the ground floor. “When checked, they found that some gold and silver ornaments were missing too,” the officer said.

Jagdale said Vadile was in utter shock after realizing that his house had been burgled. “When he picked up his phone to call up the police control room, he saw an SMS from his bank stating that Rs47,000 had been debited from his bank account,” the officer added.

Vadile immediately checked for his debit card and realized the burglar/s stole it too. “He then came to us and lodged a complaint,” Jagdale said, adding, “In total, the burglar/s left Vadile poorer by Rs60,000,” Jagdale added.

The police were checking the CCTV footage at the ATM kiosk to ascertain the identity of the burglar/s. “Further investigations are under way,” Jagdale said.

