Don’t be greedy, you might get robbed

Don’t be greedy, you might get robbed

If you thought gimmicky thefts outside banks was restricted to Bollywood potboilers, then petty criminals in Hyderabad will prove you wrong. From scattering notes outside ATMs in a bid to distract Hyderabadis before picking their pockets to tricking commuters on the road, the city’s thieves seem to be taking a leaf out of Hindi con movies to earn their moolah. At their wit’s end, cops are busy putting up illustrative posters across banks and ATMS in the city, to warn citizens against these notorious criminals, who are targeting every human’s most base trait — greed.
In a recent case, Kunal Joshi, an IBM employee lost Rs 8,000 in a similar fashion. The young techie who had stopped at the ICICI Bank ATM in Karkhana found a Rs 500 note lying outside. When he bent to pick it up, his pocket was picked. He didn’t even realise his wallet was missing till he reached home.
In another incident, John M. lost Rs 5 lakh when a thief tricked him into believing that he had a flat tyre. When he stepped out of the car to check, he found that the tyre was just fine. When he got back into the car, his bag containing cash was missing.
City cops state that there has been a rise in the number of such cases in the recent past. In the Mahankali Temple area alone, there were three such incidents in one month. S. Ranga Rao, inspector of police at the Mahankali police station, says, “The modus operandi of these thieves is to intentionally leave a few currency notes scattered near vehicles outside banks. When the owner or driver of the vehicle bends to pick them up, the thieves quickly pick their pockets or filch the bags from the vehicles and decamp.”
This problem is widespread in several pockets of the city like S.R. Nagar, Karkhana and Marredpally, says the police. “Since it is human nature for people to pick up money that is lying around, the thieves are cashing in on this weakness,” says M. Sudheer, Marredpally police station. In a bid to tackle this problem, the cops have decided to put up posters warning people of the risk outside banks in their jurisdiction. “It seems to be the only way to curb this menace and spread awareness,” he adds.
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source:DC