Man arrested for duping Airtel agent

Police in Ntchisi have arrested a 25 year old man for stealing from an Airtel agent.

Police have identified the suspect as Arnold Chauluka of Chiwengo village in the area of traditional authority Kaomba in Kasungu.

Ntchisi police spokesperson Gladson M’bumpha said they arrested the suspect on Tuesday after receiving a complaint from an Airtel money agent that Chauluka withdrew money from the agent by trickery.

According to M’bumpha, the suspect on several occasions withdrew money totalling K66,500 without showcasing messages confirming that that he had transferred money from his account to the agent’s.

The agent reported the matter to police after discovering that confirmation messages were not reaching the suspect when he tried to withdraw extra money amounting to K20,000 from the same agent on Tuesday.

“On February 2, the suspect went to an Airtel agent to withdraw money and he withdrew K30,000. The next day he went again and withdrew K36,500.

“But the messages of Airtel money were not coming on the suspect’s phone. So on Tuesday the suspect went to the agent to withdraw again and the agent asked him how much he wanted, he said he wanted K20,000. The agent took the man’s phone to process the transaction and when he told the suspect to enter his Airtel Money pin number the suspect failed twice and the card was blocked,” said M’bumpha.

The Airtel agent then realised that the man had been stealing from him and he reported the matter to police.

Meanwhile the suspect will appear in court soon to answer charges.