Cheat in Delhi, generous ex-havildar back home: Meet Rajasthan’s Robin Hood

Police have given this “benevolent” swindler a new name — Robin Hood. Indeed, Meena’s story has a few similarities to the legendary outlaw from English folklore.

The recent case came to light on May 5 when a 52-year-old man approached police saying “his ATM card was exchanged by an unknown person at Kotak Mahindra bank at Gaffar Market in Karol Bagh… who subsequently withdrew Rs 22,000 from his account from another ATM”.

Police lodged a case and formed a team led by ACP Ajay Kumar. They scanned through CCTV footage which gave them a visual of the suspect — a 5-and-a-half-foot “middle-aged man dressed in a blue shirt and a worn-out snapback cap”.

The same day, police received a tipoff that the suspect was around the market and “arrested him near a CGHS dispensary in Karol Bagh”. When he was searched, a police officer said they found 192 ATM cards in his pockets. “He identified himself as Rajender Kumar Meena, a former soldier, from Rajasthan, said the officer.

His MO

During police questioning, Meena explained his modus operandi.

A police officer said Meena would dress like an elderly man to evade suspicion: “He used to hang around ATMs in Karol Bagh, Uttam Nagar, Shahdara and a few South Delhi localities… when he saw anyone coming to withdraw money, he would determine if he can cheat them or not… once he decided, he would quickly go inside and pretend to withdraw cash… but would stick a wad of chewing gum on the card slot…”

“When his victim inserted their card, the ATM would decline it. Meena would offer his help — and swipe their card with a fake one he had in his pocket. The exchange would be so smooth that his victim wouldn’t suspect a thing. He would insert the card and ask his victim for the PIN. Once he knew the PIN, his job was done… the card would be declined again because it was fake. Disappointed, the victim would leave… Meena would then go to another ATM to withdraw money from the stolen card…,” the officer claimed.

Police said Meena claimed the first case against him was in 2013 when he allegedly cheated a villager back home. “The modus operandi was the same,” the officer said.

The accused claimed he started “targeting victims in Delhi in 2019”.

Eleven cases of ATM cheating have been lodged against him in Delhi and 20 similar cases in Rajasthan. “In one such case in Bhiwani, he was sent to jail. He served time in Tihar in a case in Delhi,” the officer said. “He has gone to prison four times in cases lodged against him in Rajasthan.”

Was cheating people at ATMs Meena’s ‘preferred way to swindle’? The officer claimed Meena answered that “cases of ATM cheating were not widely registered as FIRs and it was a compoundable offence, where if the accused and victim reach a compromise, and the latter received the stolen money, the trial is discontinued”.

Police claimed Meena had a habit of stealing, even during his Army stint.

Meena joined the Army in 2001 and rose to the rank of havildar. Police said during his service, he was posted at several locations including Jammu, Guwahati and Jabalpur. In 2016, police said, while he was posted in Jaipur, he stole a gas cylinder from the supply depot. “He was court-martialed and dismissed from service,” the officer said.

When police asked Meena about the motive behind these thefts, his answer surprised them. “He had been using the money acquired through criminal means to help people in his village,” the officer said. “He lent lakhs to several villagers… for their daughter or son’s marriage… he also paid to build roads…”

Meena’s claims were initially ignored. But when a police party took him to his village for investigation, they learned he wasn’t lying. “… all villagers were his supporters…,” said the officer.

The Indian Express reached out to a few of Meena’s neighbours in Neem ka Thana.

“Everyone knew he (Meena) was dismissed from the Army on allegations of theft but still respected him. He’s done so much for us… We had muddy paths which were turned into a concrete road by him. He built it himself as he used to deal with road construction material,” Yogesh Kumar, a daily wage worker, told The Indian Express over the phone.