South Mumbai waiter uses customer's PIN to steal Rs 50,000

Mumbai: Last month, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) made it mandatory for customers to punch in their personal identification numbers (PIN) each time their debit cards are swiped at shops and eateries. They explained that this would mitigate the chances of fraud. Ironically, following this very rule caused a young man to be robbed of Rs 50,000 from his bank account recently.

The Cuffe Parade police have arrested a waiter from the well-known Cafe Moshe's, who allegedly withdrew Rs 50,000 from a customer, Murtaza Hussein Vahanvaty's bank account. Vahanvaty had forgotten his debit card at the cash counter after paying the bill. He then left the cafe without realising he'd left the card behind. Sensing his opportunity, the waiter, who had seen the PIN, went to an ATM in Wood House, Cuffe Parade, and swiped the card thrice.

The incident occurred on January 18 at the Cafe Moshe's outlet situated in Cuffe Parade. Vahanvaty (22), a BBA student and resident of Byculla, had gone there with his friends Utsav Unadkat and Harsh Daga. After having a round of cake and coffee, Murtaza paid his bill worth Rs 761 with his debit card around 11.25 pm. As per the recent guidelines of the RBI, Murtaza entered his PIN. He left the cafe and dropped one his friends at Kemps Corner before heading home, unaware that he had left his card behind.

The rude shock came at 12.40 am, when he received three SMS alerts in a row, telling him that a total of Rs 50,000 had been debited from his account, in two withdrawals of Rs 20,000 and one of Rs 10,000 respectively. Shocked, Vahanvaty checked his pockets, to discover that his debit card was missing.

"I realised that I had forgotten my card in Cafe Moshe's. I rushed back there with my friends," said Murtaza. Murtaza then spoke to the cafe manager Anand Singh. He also approached Cuffe Parade police station, and an investigation started.

The cops immediately suspected the involvement of waiter Suryakant Sadashiv Acharya (28). Acharya told them that he had left the cafe for a while to meet his girlfriend, but soon changed his version to admit that he had withdrawn the money. The cops then recovered it from his house.

Acharya had loaned Rs 2,000 from the stash to his friend. The police also managed to recover this amount. They arrested Acharya under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) 379 (theft) of the IPC and Section 66C (identity theft) of the Information and Technology Act.

"The court has remanded Acharya in police custody till Friday," said Sanjay Chavan, investigating officer. "I am very thankful to the Cuffe Parade police, who cracked the case immediately. During investigations, the police were very cooperative," said Murtaza.

Cafe says

Anand Singh, the manager at the cafe , said, "I am not the right person to talk to the media on this issue. Talk to Y K Benjamin, the area manager." Benjamin also repeated that he, too, was not authorised to speak to the media. Benjamin said that COO Ajay Khanna was the spokesperson for the company, but added that he was in Delhi and would not be available for comment. MiD DAY then contacted Moshe Shek, owner of the Moshe's chain of cafes. He did not receive his call, but texted back, saying, "I am travelling, please talk to our city COO Ajay Khanna."