Youth offers to help blind man withdraw cash, steals his life savings

Local Press Co 5-point Snippet

1. 51-year-old visually impaired, Kanhaiya Padvi, was in for a rude shock when an unidentified individual robbed him under the pretext of helping him withdraw money from the ATM. Since Padvi’s wife is illiterate, the Kalina residents would often withdraw money from the ATM with the help of someone else.

2. On May 6, when the couple reached the Bank of Baroda ATM, they found that it wasn’t working. A young man noticed the couple’s predicament and advised them to try the using the nearby Canara Bank ATM. When the couple reached other ATM, the same man was already there.

3. Under the pretext of helping the visually impaired man, the individual took Padvi’s debit card and PIN and tried to make a withdrawal. After trying unsuccessfully, he told Padvi that even this ATM wasn’t working and handed over the card back to him.

4. The next day, Padvi got an SMS for one ATM withdrawal. When he checked with his bank (State Bank of India), he realized that the individual had robbed Padvi of his entire savings of around Rs 25,000. That’s when Padvi realised that the man must have swapped his card while returning it back to him.

5. The Vakola police registered a case of cheating against the unidentified accused on May 7, but have been unable to nab him despite going through the CCTV footage.