Students And Bankers Built ₹138 Crore Fraud Empire Busted in Karimnagar
Police said investigations are ongoing to trace the ultimate beneficiaries of the transactions
KARIMNAGAR: In a major crackdown on organised cybercrime, police in Karimnagar district have dismantled a massive network involved in the illegal operation of illegal mule bank accounts involving transactions worth about `138 crore and arrested 25 persons, including a bank official, from two raids.
In the first raid, police arrested 12 students who worked as commission agents taking 2 per cent of commission. In the second raid, police arrested 13 members including bank officials who operated the scam.
Police commissioner Gaush Alam said the operation, named “Operation Crackdown 1.0,” exposed a network facilitating financial transactions for cyber fraudsters. He said many of the accused were students pursuing diploma, degree and engineering courses.
The investigation found that bank officials allegedly colluded with middlemen in the racket. Among those arrested are Bhuvanagiri Kalyan, manager of Ratnakar Bank Limited (RBL) in Karimnagar, along with coordinators Bandari Sairam and Anumandla Ranjit. A cashier, Ayesha Begum, was also arrested but not presented before the media due to medical reasons. The accused have been booked under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act.
Police said the syndicate operated through a three-tier structure involving coordinators, middlemen and account holders. Individuals, mainly from rural areas such as Jagtial and Peddapalli, were lured with commissions to open bank accounts, which were then used by cybercriminals for laundering money.
Of the total `138 crore amount, `125.8 crore was routed through RBL mule accounts and `12.25 crore through virtual accounts, officials said.
The crackdown follows a similar operation on March 15 in which 12 persons were arrested in a parallel case.
The prime suspect, Mudugunti Rajeshwar Reddy, in the March 15 operation, had focused on systemic collection of passbooks and checkbooks from local youth to sell to higher-level cyber gangs.
Police said investigations are ongoing to trace the ultimate beneficiaries of the transactions.