A policeman’s routine visit to an ATM near his home in Outer Delhi’s Paschim Vihar last September was followed by a nightmare when his debit card got stuck in the machine, he was asked to dial up a helpline, the “customer care executive” at the other end assured him that the card would be delivered at his home, but eventually, Rs 35,000 was debited from his account within no time. After he filed a complaint, police busted a gang that operated using a unique modus operandi — a glue trap inside ATM slots, fake helpline numbers put up at kiosks, and callers posing as bank officials and executives. The mastermind, Ravi Kumar Bharti, was arrested on Tuesday by the Inter State Cell (ISC) of the Crime Branch. He has been involved in over 50 similar incidents, said officers.
It was September 27, 2025. When his card got stuck, Sub-Inspector Avtar Singh “tried to get it out, but couldn’t,” said an officer. “He saw a white sheet pasted on the kiosk with a helpline number on it. So he dialled up the number,” the police officer, investigating the case, said. It was Ravi Kumar Bharti’s number. He was arrested in 2022 for running an alleged ATM card theft scam but was released later that year on bail.
Avtar was soon talking to a man named Roshan Kumar, Ravi’s aide, who claimed to be a bank official. “Avtar was told that his card was stuck due to some snag. He was asked to re-enter the pin but nothing happened. So he was told by Roshan to go home, and that his card would be delivered to him,” the officer added.
Officers said that strong adhesives were slapped inside the slots of the machines by one of Ravi’s aides to jam the cards of the customers. “Avtar was made to enter his pin again while one of the gang members observed him, without his knowledge, and noted it down. After Avtar left, the gang member took out the card, used the pin, and withdrew Rs 35,000 from his account,” the officer explained.
The transaction message flashed on Avtar’s mobile but he never got his card back. Subsequently, he filed a case.
Bharti (36) hails from Bihar’s Gaya district. Police said he came to Delhi in 2018 to work as an attendant at a hotel in Paharganj. A Class 12 passout, he then met a man named Roshan Kumar, a native of a village not too far from his hometown.
Another police officer said, “Roshan introduced Ravi to Pintu Kumar, who lived with him in Neb Sarai locality of South Delhi, along with some other men from his village. Roshan was aware of the workings of ATMs and proposed a plan. Ravi then came up with a step-by-step guide of how to go about it.”
The gang executed at least 50 such attempts, and duped at least 22 people across the Capital between 2018 and 2025, according to police. Bharti and his aides were arrested in 2022, police said, and later came out on bail before going back to Bihar.
“But they couldn’t earn to their liking in Bihar, and came back to Delhi in 2025 to start scamming people again. One of their victims was Avtar Singh,” the officer said.
The gang members are suspected to have targeted the ATMS where there were no guards.
After the FIR was registered at Paschim Vihar East police station, early investigation led to the arrest of two associates — Raushan Kumar and Pintu Kumar — who pointed to Bharti as the mastermind running the operation.
A team led by Inspector Shivraj Singh Bisht, under the supervision of ACP Ramesh Chander Lamba, tracked the accused using CCTV footage, technical inputs and local intelligence. A specific lead placed Bharti in Rajpur Khurd area of Chhatarpur, where he was eventually nabbed during a targeted raid on Tuesday.
Police said he was previously involved in at least seven criminal cases and has now been linked, through technical analysis, to more than 50 instances of ATM fraud and attempted fraud. Nine victims have been identified so far, leading to four FIRs and five complaints across multiple police stations.
The Inter-State Cell of the Delhi Police Crime Branch nabbed Ravi Kumar Bharti on Tuesday. (Photo by special arrangement) 
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