Mukul Rajput, a second year B Tech student from Sharda University, was introduced to the craft of hacking into ATMs by a fellow student. He then bought several self help books on hacking on ATM tampering from Wikipedia, eventually mastering the art.
On May 21, the 20-year-old was caught red handed by a security guard outside an HDFC ATM located at Nehru Enclave at Kalkaji.
The guard, a part of the Delhi Police's Prahari scheme, caught him after he found that the ATM was out of order after two transactions. 30 credit cards and 40 signed cheques were seized.
Rajput would place his finger between the shutter of cash dispenser and would override the communications systems leading to a severing of the communication link with the satellite.
After this, he would withdraw in small transactions and go to the bank by claiming that his transaction was failed and get compensated.
DCP South East Romil Baaniya said that banks too would reimburse the amount to his account as per the procedure within a time after verification, which did not show a malfunction in the machine.