Hyderabad police arrest two for ATM diversion thefts
HYDERABAD: Police arrested two inter-district offenders involved in attention diversion thefts near ATM centres in the Khairatabad zone.
Accused target ATM users with fake digital payments
The accused, identified as Mohammed Salman, 26, a Rapido driver from Pahadisharif in Rangareddy district, and Azaan Tauqeel Khan, 19, a student from Vijay Nagar, Malakpet, allegedly targeted people depositing cash at ATM centres.
Police said the duo approached victims claiming they had no cash and offered to transfer money instantly through Google Pay if given cash. After collecting the victim’s phone number, they generated a “report” instead of completing the payment and showed a fake success screen before fleeing with the cash.
₹20,000 cheating at SBI ATM leads to case
The case came to light after Aditya Agarwal was cheated of ₹20,000 at an SBI ATM near Taj Mahal Hotel in Narayanguda. Following his complaint on April 13, police registered a case (Crime No. 116/2026) under Sections 318(4) and 303(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
CCTV, technical inputs help track accused
Acting on instructions from the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Khairatabad zone, and the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Sultan Bazar division, a team led by SHO M. Saideshwar, DI B. Abhilash, and DSI C.H. Nagaraju used CCTV footage and technical evidence to apprehend the accused in Malakpet on April 16.
During inquiry, the accused confessed to similar offences in multiple police station limits:
- Masab Tank police station: 2 cases
- Sultan Bazar police station: 1 case
- IS Sadan police station: 1 case
- Domalguda police station: 1 case
Police team commended for swift detection
The operation was supervised by ACP M. Mattaiah of Sultan Bazar division. The Deputy Commissioner of Police appreciated the Narayanguda police station team and announced rewards for solving the case quickly.
