Jammu, 27 October (H.S.): J&K Police have recovered the entire Rs 9.5 lakh allegedly siphoned off from a woman's bank account in an ATM card-swapping fraud, arrested two women from Haryaya suspected of receiving the proceeds of the crime, and launched a hunt for two main accused who remain absconding.

The case was registered under at Police Station Qazigund Kulgam under Sections 303(2) and 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Police on Tuesday said the fraud came to light on October 15, when Muneera Reshi, a resident of Pati Akhran in Kulgam district, approached Police Post Mir Bazar and reported that her ATM card had allegedly been fraudulently exchanged by an unidentified person at an ATM in Mir Bazar on October 5.

Unauthorised transactions amounting to Rs 9.5 lakh were subsequently carried out from her bank account.

Investigators identified the two main suspects as Vinender Singh alias Sheenu, a resident of Kesan Colony, Ward No. 12, Barwala in Haryana's Hisar district, and Mukesh Singh, a resident of Hansi in the same district.

Police said CCTV footage, technical analysis and other investigative leads helped establish the suspects' identities and residential addresses.

A police team subsequently travelled to Haryana to trace the accused. However, both men were found missing from their respective residences, which were locked, prompting further efforts to track them down.

During the investigation, police recovered the entire rs 9.5 lakh from two women allegedly linked to the suspects through family ties.

The arrested women have been identified as Shanti Devi a resident of Data Gurana in Hisar district, who is the maternal uncle's wife of accused Vinender Singh, and Rajpati Devi and a resident of Sorkhi in Hisar district, who is the maternal aunt of accused Mukesh Singh.

Police said both women were arrested for their alleged role in receiving the proceeds of the crime. Their alleged involvement, like that of the two absconding suspects, remains subject to the outcome of the investigation and judicial proceedings.

Further investigation is underway to reconstruct the sequence of events, establish the individual roles of those involved and apprehend the two main accused.

Kulgam Police have appealed to the public to share credible information about the whereabouts of Vinender Singh alias Sheenu and Mukesh Singh.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Krishan Kumar