Jhansi police have busted an organised cybercrime network accused of hacking payment servers of online gaming applications and diverting user payments into mule bank accounts, with preliminary investigation revealing suspected illegal transactions worth nearly ₹42.35 crore over eight months.
Premnagar police arrested seven accused in connection with the case, while the alleged mastermind and some other suspects remain absconding. Investigators said the gang primarily targeted Chinese online gaming applications and websites where users deposited money for gaming tokens, digital weapons and other virtual items.
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Payment Servers Allegedly Hacked to Divert User Funds
According to investigators, users of the targeted gaming platforms were required to deposit amounts ranging from ₹399 to ₹500. Police allege that the accused breached the payment server infrastructure of these applications and redirected payments away from official company accounts.
The funds were allegedly moved into bank accounts controlled by members of the gang. Police said the operation came to light after information was received about a Premnagar resident arranging suspicious bank accounts across several financial institutions.
During surveillance and questioning, police detained the suspect and reportedly recovered an active Indonesian SIM card from his possession. Interrogation allegedly revealed details of the wider fraud mechanism, leading to coordinated action and further arrests.
Mule Accounts and Foreign SIM Links Under Probe
The arrested accused have been identified as Ragib Ahmed, Sunny Amaraya, Sohail Khan, Anubhav Singh, Danish Khan, Saurabh Vishwakarma and Devesh Kumar. Police said the alleged mastermind, identified as Dhruv, is absconding, and raids are being conducted to trace him and two other suspected associates.
Investigators said the gang relied on mule accounts opened using fake identities or rented from other individuals. These accounts were allegedly used to move money collected from gaming users and layer transactions to conceal the source and final beneficiaries.
Police have so far identified 114 bank accounts allegedly linked to the network, with suspicious transactions worth nearly ₹38 crore traced through them. Officials said one mule account at a Bank of India branch in Mauranipur allegedly received around ₹19 lakh in a single day, while about ₹37 lakh was found in the primary accused’s account during scrutiny.
Crypto Trail Adds Complexity to Investigation
According to investigators, the accused allegedly avoided direct cash withdrawals to evade detection. Instead, the stolen funds were reportedly converted into cryptocurrency through the digital exchange platform Binance.
Police suspect that the fraud proceeds were used to purchase USDT and other digital assets before being routed towards foreign-linked financial channels. Authorities are now conducting digital forensic analysis of IP logs, server access records, transaction metadata, telecom links and cryptocurrency trails.
Officials believe the network may not have been limited to Jhansi or Uttar Pradesh and could have links to wider cybercrime modules operating through gaming and crypto ecosystems. Police said efforts are continuing to trace the absconding accused, while more details may emerge as financial and technical evidence is examined.
