Sinhagad Road

Sinhagad

citizens

Nagargoje

Sinhgad

Jeevan Mohite

CCTV

Sunita Narayan

Dhayari

State Bank of India

Queuing people atRoad ATMs and banks have been plagued by a gang that loots money on the pretext of giving change against higher currency. After three such incidents were reported by citizens, cops have placed photos of these notorious conmen with a warning outside the banks. Furthermore, they have informed that the gang has been targeting seniorand women.Assistant police inspector, Machinderofpolice station, who is investigating one of the three cases, told Pune Mirror, “We suspect that the gang members work around banks and ATMs. Moreover, they target senior citizens and women, who will be too weak to put up a fight.”He said that one of the gang members keeps making rounds of the ATMs or banks, to observe if any particular person is withdrawing large amounts of money. Once, the person has identified the victim, he informs his partners, who wait outside the bank. They approach the person when he/she steps out of the bank and offer help in counting the notes, claiming there might be some “shortage of money”.Nagargoje said, “If the person believes the conmen, he/she allows them to count the money. While pretending to count, the gang members take away some notes from the bundle and flee from the spot before the victim realises that he/she has been looted.”So far, the police have not managed to nab any member of the gang and so, have come up with posters of the conmen to alert the citizens.Sub-inspectorof Sinhagad police station, who is a part of the team trying to trace the conmen, told Mirror, “We procured their photos from one of the bank’sfootage. There is no record of these people in any of the police stations. In a bid to alert customers, we have put up their photos outside banks, asking people not to indulge in conversation with these thugs. We have also requested them to immediately inform cops of their presence.”Citizens have said that police should deploy protection around banks, as it becomes difficult for them to identify conmen in the crowd., a customer, who was in a queue at thebranch of, said, “It is tough for customers to identify such persons in crowd. Instead, police should keep some plainclothes personnel , who can easily identify such persons and can immediately take action against them.”