A mule account racket with a suspected international cyber crime connection has opened up a Rs 100 crore plus online fraud network. Nagpur Cyber Police have arrested five more persons, including two young women, taking the total arrests to six. Police found that more than Rs 100 crore was routed through 104 bank accounts taken on rent and used to receive and transfer fraud money. Police have found that more than Rs 100 crore was routed through 104 bank accounts allegedly obtained and operated on rent. Investigators suspect that the accounts were used by cybercriminals to receive and transfer fraud money. The arrested persons are Irfan Iqbal Shaikh (32), Mrunali Digambar Kamble (26), Nidhita Amit Ramteke (22), Ayush Chandrakant Ramteke (20) and Aditya Rahul Dupare (20). Earlier, police had arrested Ujjwala Tarachand Rajgire (32) from Mouda on August 5. Police said Irfan is suspected to be Nagpur-based mastermind who arranged bank accounts on rent for cybercriminals.

 

The case came to light after DCP (Cyber) Deepak Agrawal received information about a group staying in a rented room at Pawanputra Nagar near Dighori Naka. Acting on the information, a Cyber Police team raided the premises. Ujjwala was arrested from the spot. Police recovered a large quantity of material used for operating bank accounts. The seizure included 209 SIM cards, 40 ATM cards, 45 passbooks, 180 chequebooks, 45 Aadhaar cards and 12 PAN cards. Irfan and his associates had initially fled from the premises. Police later traced them and arrested them. During interrogation, investigators found that the bank accounts linked to the gang had handled transactions of more than Rs 100 crore. The huge money trail has now widened the investigation. Police have found 104 complaints linked to the bank accounts in Maharashtra and other states. The probe has also raised suspicion of an international cybercrime connection. Police suspect that the local accused were working for a larger network operating from outside India. Investigators are examining bank transactions, mobile phones and other digital evidence to trace the money and identify the people controlling the operation. DCP (Cyber) Deepak Agrawal said the investigation was revealing the actual scale of the racket.

 

“The amount involved is already very high. We expect it to increase further as more complaints and transactions are examined. We are following the money trail and trying to identify the masterminds,” Agrawal said. Police are now checking each bank account linked to the racket. They want to establish who opened the accounts, who controlled them and where the money was transferred. The earlier raids had also led to the seizure of 236 ATM cards, 82 passbooks, 85 chequebooks and 180 blank cheques from premises linked to the accused. Police also recovered SIM cards, KYC documents, identity cards, company stamps, bank scanners, a swipe machine, business documents, diaries and mobile phones.

 

The large number of ATM cards, passbooks and chequebooks has given investigators important leads. Each account is being checked for its transaction history, said a police official. The seized phones are also being examined. Police hope to find chats, contacts and other digital evidence linking the accused to cybercriminals operating outside Nagpur and possibly outside India. Some members of the wider network are still absconding. The case is under active investigation.