A Sri Lankan petrol-pump cashier was jailed on Tuesday in Leicestershire, England [Images], for fleecing an entire village.

Abdul Samad Mohamed Raik was convicted for cloning more than 500 credit cards to steal �175,000 (about Rs 1.43 crore) in a fraud allegedly driven by links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Almost all households in Houghton on the Hill, Leicestershire escaped without being ripped off.

The residents were unaware that their account were being accessed all over the world and their accounts were being emptied.

Raik used a fake card reader device to copy the card details, The fake cards were used to withdraw money in countries like Australia [Images], Phillipines, India and Senegal. Raik supposedly carried on this scam between October and december last year.

Raik surrendered to the police and claimed he was involved with a loan shark linked to the banned Tamil Tigers.

Raik told police he was given the card-cloning equipment and ordered to use it to pay off  his debt. He was also provided with a  fake passport so he could flee the country. Raik was sentenced to two years and nine months after admitting to his crimes.