The accused offered to help the victim when he saw her struggling to take money out of the ATM. (Sourced )

A 35-year-old woman, Rehana Shaikh, who was cheated by a 36-year-old conman at a Bandra ATM, caught him on Wednesday after laying a trap there for more than two weeks.

According to the police, the accused, Bhupendra Mishra, is a habitual offender and has seven cases registered against him at various police stations across the city.

“On December 18, the woman alighted from the train to go to her office at Pali Hill. She then went to the ATM adjoining the Bandra station and tried to withdraw money. She was unable to do so owing to some technical glitch. The ATM was not dispensing money,” said an officer from Bandra police station.

According to the police, the accused was waiting outside the door.

When he saw the complainant struggling to withdraw money, he offered to help Shaikh. Eventually, she could not get the money out. However, the accused had by then got all the details of the woman’s debit card.

By the time she reached office, Shaikh received a message that Rs 10,000 has been withdrawn from her account.

Shaikh, a Wadala resident, then went to the ATM, but could not trace the accused, said the officer. “She kept going to the same ATM for around 17 days and waited for the man to cross the area, either near the ATM or the station. Whenever she used to go to the station, she would wait outside the ATM to catch him,” said the officer.

The police said on January 4, Shaikh noticed the man outside the same ATM at 11:30pm. She caught him there and called the police.

When police checked, they found out that Mishra had seven cases against him and was arrested in January 2018 by the crime Branch for conning people at ATMs.