Three Arrested as Police Bust Rs 25.45-Crore Cyber Fraud Mule Account Network
The Dongri Police cyber team has busted an inter-state racket supplying mule bank accounts for cyber frauds linked to online gaming, cricket betting, and casino platforms. Three men were arrested outside Sandhurst Road railway station on Dr Maheshwari Road in Dongri, while police continue searching for five other suspects.
The arrested individuals were identified as Nikhil Kamalkumar Jaswani, 28, of Pipariya in Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh; Rahul Shyamlal Parwani, 32, of Madhya Pradesh; and Jai Biharilal Tirathani, 26, of Katni, Madhya Pradesh. A case has been registered under Sections 318(4), 317, and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, along with Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
According to investigators, the accused targeted financially vulnerable individuals, offering small financial incentives to open bank accounts in their names. The gang then took possession of the account holders' passbooks, debit cards, cheque books, SIM cards, and other banking credentials to funnel illicit funds.
The probe expanded across multiple areas, including Govandi, Mankhurd, and Dongri in Mumbai, as well as Belapur and Panvel in Navi Mumbai, and Osmanabad. Notices under Section 35(3) of the BNSS were also served to three women residing in Mankhurd's Lallubhard Compound.
Police seized 42 bank passbooks, 70 debit cards, 36 SIM cards, 23 mobile phones, three laptops, one tablet, 12 bank kits, and a car, with the total seized property valued at around Rs 50 lakh.
Out of 110 bank accounts identified during the probe, bank details obtained for 17 accounts revealed that approximately Rs 25.45 crore was transacted through them over a span of one-and-a-half to two months. Technical verification confirmed these 17 accounts are linked to 38 cybercrime complaints across several states, including one case registered at Narpoli Police Station in Thane and another at Khandeshwar Police Station in Navi Mumbai.
Other linked complaints span Karnataka, Telangana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir, and West Bengal. Police are carrying out detailed financial analysis to identify further beneficiaries and trace remaining members of the network.
