The Cyber Centre of Excellence under the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Crime has broken open a massive transnational cyber fraud network during a targeted enforcement sweep labeled “Operation Mule Hunt 2.0.” Law enforcement officials have arrested five key operatives who reportedly managed a sprawling retail network of mule bank accounts. Subsequent forensic database mapping revealed that the group’s financial setup is linked to at least 31 separate active online fraud files filed across the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCCRP), reflecting total siphoned holdings exceeding ₹15.31 crore.
Registration Begins for FutureCrime Summit 2026, India’s Largest Cybercrime Conference
The Dilsafar Honeytrap and Fake Forex Terminals
The operational blueprint utilized a blend of heavy emotional manipulation and simulated financial technology. The network deployed fake female profiles under fictitious names like “Jigyasha Kapoor” on the regional matchmaking and matrimonial platform Dilsafar. After spending weeks engaging with targets to build deep psychological rapport, the operators shifted conversations to encrypted messaging platforms like Telegram and subtly recommended an exclusive, high-yield digital trading terminal operating under the brand name “RoboForex.”
To systematically erode any initial investor caution, the fraudsters guided a Surat-based businessman to place an introductory micro-deposit of ₹50,000. The interface was intentionally rigged to display immediate, rapid profit accumulations and smoothly cleared a small trial withdrawal back to his commercial profile. Once convinced of the terminal’s legitimacy, the victim was persuaded to liquidate substantial personal capital, moving a total of ₹1.47 crore across multiple transfers into distinct accounts provided by the handlers. The deception collapsed when the platform displayed a massive total balance but blocked all withdrawal requests, demanding an additional “unlock penalty” of ₹83 lakh to clear alleged margin shortfalls, eventually driving the investor’s cumulative personal losses to ₹2.30 crore.
Interstate Corporate Mules and the Nepal Routing Connection
As the specialized cyber cell initiated deep-dive financial tracing on the victim’s money trails, they intercepted a highly active corporate current account opened at a local branch under the name “R.P. Chemicals.” Police teams raided linked parameters and arrested the primary account creator, Raj Atulbhai Padsala, a resident of Anand. Custodial interrogations revealed that Padsala had registered the dummy enterprise solely to secure commercial banking kits, which he subsequently surrendered to local intermediaries in exchange for fixed transactional commissions.
The logistical extraction chain migrated through several layers before reaching its final destinations:
- The Rajkot Midlevel Layer: Intermediaries Yagnik Ashokbhai Ramani, Laxman Jayantilal Vaghela, Sagar Bhimjibhai Gokani, and Dr. Jaideep Kumar Batuklal Aradesana (a practicing homeopath) managed the physical logistics, rotating activated SIM cards and checking digital ledger positions.
- The Foreign Extraction Gateway: Once the illicit capital hit the R.P. Chemicals account, the online net banking access codes were forwarded through a network handler based in Delhi directly to a principal criminal operator named Sarfaraz, who is currently managing downstream asset distribution from safe havens inside Nepal.
Technical Asset Seizures and Safety Verification Directives
Superintendent of Police Rajdeepsinh Jhala confirmed that Operation Mule Hunt 2.0 marked the first definitive time that investigators have mapped a direct, systematic nexus connecting domestic corporate mule portfolios directly to active laundering networks in Nepal. During the physical search operations, law enforcement officers recovered seven active smartphones, falsified identity cards, and layered corporate registration packages used to manufacture dummy business portfolios.
Digital risk analysts and security researchers have noted that financial syndicates are increasingly merging romantic social engineering with custom, unverified stock and crypto trading applications to bypass basic public skepticism. The state cyber crime command has issued a strict advisory to single citizens and general investors, emphasizing that public users must completely avoid transferring capital to unverified private accounts based purely on relationships formed via digital dating platforms. Citizens are urged to verify the registration records of all trading entities through official regulatory watchdogs like SEBI, and to instantly contact the emergency cybercrime response desk at 1930 to execute immediate electronic asset freezes upon detecting suspicious transaction patterns.
