Byndoor: A duping racket involving the theft of ATM cards under the pretext of helping came to light under the Byndoor Police Station limits on Tuesday, where the miscreants took the original ATM card and drew the cash for the customer, but returned a duplicate card.

Three separate cases have been registered at the Byndoor Police Station based on the complaints filed by people who were cheated of their ATM cards by members of the duping web.

Chaitra, a resident of Shiroor had gone on Tuesday morning to draw money from a Canara Bank ATM situated near the Shiroor market, Balkis Banu, who had visited the Shiroor Urban Bank ATM, and Chandrashekhar, a resident of Salvadi village who went to the State Bank of India ATM in Byndoor, complained to the police, narrating to the officers their experiences at the kiosks.

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As Chaitra, Balkis Banu and Chandrashekhar were unable to draw money from their respective ATMs, each of them was offered help by another customer inside the kiosk. Taking the card, the second customer also attempted to draw cash and, saying he too was unable to draw money, returned the card to the owner, before leaving the kiosk.

In each of the three cases, however, the card owner realized a little later that the second customer had returned a duplicate in place of the original card. Much to their horror, the complainants, on inquiring at the bank, found that money had been drawn from their respective accounts. Chaitra had lost Rs 21,000, Balkis Banu lost Rs 5,000 and Chandrashekhar found that Rs 2 lakh had been drawn from his account.

Byndoor Police, who are investigating the matter, said that the complainants informed them that the fraudsters spoke to them in Hindi, which gave rise to the suspicion that the criminals were from outside Karnataka. The investigation is being conducted taking into consideration the possibility of a crime racket by non-Kannadigas, the police added.

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Chandigarh (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate on Monday conducted searches at multiple locations in Punjab as part of a money laundering probe against former state police DIG Harcharan Singh Bhullar and entities linked to him, officials said.

They said about 11 premises in Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Patiala, Nabha and Jalandhar linked to the accused, his associates and suspected benamidars (the owner in whose name a benami property is held) are being covered under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) probe stems from a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) case registered against Bhullar on allegations that he sought illegal gratification through a middleman for settlement of a criminal case, along with detection of assets disproportionate to known sources of income.

The searches aim to trace further proceeds of the alleged crime, identify benami assets and gather evidence related to money laundering, ED officials said.

Bhullar, who was serving as the deputy inspector general (DIG) of police (Ropar Range), was arrested by the CBI in October 2025 after a scrap dealer alleged that bribe was demanded from him through an intermediary to settle a case.