ATM card duping racket in Byndoor: People offer help at kiosks, return duplicate card to customers
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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Indian national sentenced to 35 years in prison for sexual exploitation of minors, child pornography
New York (PTI): A 31-year-old Indian national has been sentenced to 35 years in prison for sexually exploiting several children through a social media app where he often posed as a teenage boy to gain their trust and threatened and extorted them with child pornography when they refused his requests.
Sai Kumar Kurremula, 31, an Indian national living in Edmond, Oklahoma on an immigrant visa, has been sentenced to serve 420 months in federal prison for the sexual exploitation of three children and transportation of child pornography, US Attorney Robert Troester said in a statement.
At the sentencing hearing last week, US District Judge Charles Goodwin sentenced Kurremula to serve 420 months in federal prison, followed by a lifetime term of supervised release.
In announcing his sentence, Goodwin noted that these offences are among those that society considers the most serious because they involve such vulnerable victims. Goodwin further highlighted that Kurremula inflicted trauma on his victims that will echo throughout their lives and their families’ lives, and his lengthy sentence of imprisonment reflects that trauma.
In April last year, Kurremula was charged with sexual exploitation of children and transportation of child pornography. According to an affidavit filed in support of a criminal complaint, in October 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began investigating an account on a social media messaging app involving a user who was sexually exploiting minor girls.
The Internet Protocol address used to create the account led federal authorities to Kurremula. Public documents and evidence at the sentencing hearing allege Kurremula had sexually exploited at least 19 minors through the social media messaging app, often posing as a 13-15-year-old boy to gain the trust of his victims. When the victims refused his requests, Kurremula would manipulate, threaten, and extort his victims to produce even more child pornography.
Kurremula had pleaded guilty and admitted to sexually exploiting three minor victims and knowingly transporting images of child pornography. Specifically, Kurremula admitted that to ensure the minor victims complied, he threatened one minor that he would drive to her house and show her parents sexually explicit images of her; threatened another victim that he would come to her home and shoot her family; and threatened a third young individual that he would publicly post sexually explicit images and videos of her.
“The appalling exploitation, manipulation, and coercion of multiple children by this defendant justly warranted the 35-year sentence imposed by the Court,” Troester said. “This case serves as a clear warning to others that the strongest of penalties await those who exploit and victimize our children.” FBI Oklahoma City Special Agent in Charge Doug Goodwater said Kurremula manipulated children into sending him explicit images for his perverse gratification. “These disgusting actions robbed the victims of their innocence and caused unthinkable harm,” Goodwater said.
