Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh’s Special Task Force (STF) on Sunday busted an interstate ATM card swap racket that allegedly tailed customers, shoulder-surfed their PINs, swapped debit cards under distraction, and emptied accounts before victims could realise anything was wrong.“Five suspects were arrested near Gosaiganj on Sultanpur Road on Sunday, and a haul of 75 ATM/debit cards, four mobile phones, Rs 5,090 cash, and an SUV was seized,” officials said.SSP, STF, Ghule Sushil Chandrabhan, said that the gang operated across Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and the Delhi NCR region, frequently changing districts to stay ahead of law enforcement. The group is believed to have targeted both rural and urban bank customers—especially the elderly, first-time users, and people withdrawing cash at night or in poorly monitored kiosks.The STF action followed weeks of surveillance after intelligence flagged unusual clusters of low-value rapid withdrawals made soon after legitimate ATM visits. Acting on a tip that gang members were arriving in a Maruti Fronx to hit multiple ATMs around Lucknow, a team led by DySP Dharmesh Kumar Shahi and executed by Inspector Raghvendra Singh with STF field personnel intercepted the vehicle in the Gosainganj police station limits. Five men were detained without major resistance.Gyanendra Shukla, alleged gang leader, Umesh Yadav, Roshan Singh, Shivprakash Singh, and Vipendra Singh were all brought to Gosainganj police station where the case was registered against them.STF said that preliminary checks show extensive criminal histories against several accused, including cheating, forgery, theft, and IT Act offences across multiple districts such as Ayodhya, Pratapgarh, Prayagraj, Bhadohi, Kaushambi, Lucknow, and others.
