The Crime Investigation Department (CID) of Jharkhand Police has uncovered a massive cyber-crime operation, identifying over 15,000 mule bank accounts allegedly used to launder money from fraudulent investment schemes. The investigation, conducted in coordination with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Ministry of Home Affairs, marks one of the largest crackdowns on cyber-enabled financial fraud in the region.
A mule account, investigators explained, is a bank account exploited by criminals to conceal or transfer illicit funds, often without the account holder’s knowledge, or with their active involvement. The Jharkhand Police registered a case last month after detecting suspicious transactions routed through such accounts.
High-Value Accounts Flagged in CID Operation
According to officials, the CID initiated a targeted operation against “layer-1” mule accounts, those used in high-value transactions exceeding ₹10 lakh. As part of this crackdown, 40 bank accounts were named in an FIR filed on July 29, invoking sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) along with provisions of the Information Technology Act.
So far, seven individuals have been arrested for operating mule accounts linked to interstate investment scams. Among the accused are Roushan Kumar from Ranchi, whose account allegedly handled ₹10.2 crore, and Satish Kumar, also from Ranchi, whose account saw fraudulent transactions worth ₹6.2 crore, the highest recorded in the case. Others include account holders from Palamu, Koderma, and Jamtara, with transactions ranging from ₹67 lakh to over ₹5 crore.
National Footprint of Fraudulent Transactions
Preliminary analysis indicates that the syndicate’s financial operations were not confined to Jharkhand but spanned multiple states, including Bihar, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Delhi. The fraudulent trails were traced through complaints registered on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
During searches, investigators seized eight mobile phones, 12 SIM cards, nine ATM cards, four passbooks, nine cheque books, a business registration certificate, and WhatsApp chat records, which revealed the interstate and organized nature of the scam.
Jharkhand DGP Anurag Thakur confirmed that further arrests are expected as forensic analysis of digital evidence continues. Officials said the crackdown demonstrates the growing scale of cyber-crime syndicates exploiting banking networks and the importance of coordinated state and national-level action in combating financial fraud.