Bhopal, Nov 4 - Three people including a Sudanese youth have been arrested for hacking into a bank account and transferring and withdrawing money from it using a debit card, police said Wednesday.

"Dharmendra Vaidyamutha, a resident of Chhindwara district (in Madhya Pradesh) had complained to the police that someone has siphoned off money from his Axis Bank account.

"The investigators found that the account had been hacked from the US and Rs. 40,000 had been transferred to another bank account in Mumbai," Inspector General R. K. Mishra said.

During investigations police learned that Ahmed Elmuiz Abdel Gadir, 21, a resident of Sudan, who was in Mumbai on a tourist visa, and his accomplice Shahid had allegedly lured A. M. Sheikh, 31, into providing Vaidyamutha's bank password by promising him Rs. 5,000.

"The password was used for siphoning and Rs. 40,000 was transferred from Dharmendra's account. Of this, Rs. 39,000 was later withdrawn by Sheikh using a debit card, the police official said.

The police raided Sheikh's Mumbai residence Monday and subsequently caught Shahid and the Sudanese youth. Several cell phones, ATM cards and other documents were also seized from their possession.

All three have been brought to Bhopal for further investigations.

During preliminary investigations, the server location suggested that the racket originated in the US, police said.