Hyderabad, Feb 24 (TNT): In a massive nationwide crackdown, the Hyderabad City Cyber Crime Police dismantled a pan-India cyber fraud syndicate and arrested 104 persons across 16 states, including mule account holders, account suppliers and a bank official, under a special operation code-named “Operation Octopus.”
The accused were part of organised cybercrime networks involved in investment scams, trading frauds and “digital arrest” frauds, which cheated victims of about ₹127 crore in 1,055 cases registered across the country, said Hyderabad City Police Commissioner V.C. Sajjanar in a release here on Tuesday.
Investigators identified 151 bank accounts used to siphon and launder fraud money.
As part of the coordinated operation, 32 special teams were deployed and raids were conducted simultaneously over 10 days in states including Maharashtra, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and others, leading to the large-scale arrests.
Among those arrested were: 86 mule account holders who allowed their bank accounts to be used for laundering fraud money; 17 account suppliers and aggregators who procured and routed accounts to fraud masterminds, and One bank relationship manager accused of facilitating fraudulent account operations.
Police seized ₹36 lakh in cash, 204 mobile phones, 141 SIM cards, 152 bank passbooks, 234 debit and credit cards, 26 laptops and 56 corporate stamps during the operation.
The operation was carried out under the supervision of senior Hyderabad City Police officers, who said cybercrime syndicates exploit unsuspecting citizens through manipulation and intimidation, and warned that strict action would continue against anyone involved in such offences.
Investigation is ongoing to identify and arrest the masterminds behind the network.
TNT TS
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