Kanpur Police have widened their crackdown on suspicious bank accounts linked to cybercrime under the ongoing ‘Operation Vajra’ campaign, booking a couple after investigators traced more than ₹1 crore in suspected fraud proceeds to an account operated in their names. In a separate case, a city resident has alleged he was cheated of ₹3.22 lakh after fraudsters promised him a job and a company laptop.
A Footwear Business Account Under the Scanner
Investigators began examining a bank account operated under the name “Excellent Footwear” after receiving intelligence through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal as part of Operation Vajra, a statewide drive targeting mule accounts used to launder fraud proceeds. Preliminary findings linked the account to 25 separate cyber fraud complaints, with more than ₹1 crore having allegedly passed through it in transactions suspected to be connected to cybercrime.
Moolganj Police have registered a case against the account holder, Habiba Rahman, and her husband, Affanoor Rahman, residents of Hiraman Ka Purwa. Officers are now examining banking records, digital transactions and other electronic evidence to establish the couple’s alleged role and determine whether the account was knowingly rented out as a money mule conduit or compromised without their full awareness.
In a separate case, Vinay Verma of Ahirwan in the Gwaltoli area alleged he was persuaded to pay ₹3.22 lakh in instalments after fraudsters promised him employment with a company, citing job-processing charges and the cost of a company laptop as justification for the payments. Despite complying, Verma received neither the job nor the laptop, and filed a complaint through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal once he realised he had been defrauded. Police have registered a case and begun investigating.
Part of a Wider Statewide Push
Operation Vajra has emerged as one of Uttar Pradesh Police’s more active mule-account enforcement drives in recent months, with a similar case in Hathras last week involving a ₹4.79 crore mule account traced through a Bank of Baroda account registered to an automobile business. Police in that case, too, said the account had been flagged as a “Red Zone Category-I” mule account through district-level intelligence inputs, pointing to a systematic, intelligence-driven approach to identifying suspect accounts rather than reactive, complaint-by-complaint investigation.
The pattern is not unique to Uttar Pradesh. The Central Bureau of Investigation’s Operation Chakra-V has previously uncovered more than 8.5 lakh mule accounts opened across over 700 bank branches nationwide, often without proper KYC compliance, while Rajasthan has separately committed ₹100 crore to a new Cyber Crime Control Centre and named parallel drives such as Operation Vajra Prahar and Operation Mule Hunter. Together, these operations suggest Indian law enforcement is increasingly treating the banking layer beneath cyber fraud, not just individual scammers, as the primary target.
Investigators Widen the Net
Police in Kanpur said they are analysing bank accounts, mobile numbers, UPI transactions, IP logs and call records in both cases, and are working to determine whether the accounts form part of a larger interstate cybercrime network, as well as tracing the onward movement of the allegedly fraudulent funds.
Renowned cybercrime expert and former IPS officer Prof. Triveni Singh said cybercriminals are increasingly exploiting fake job offers, investment schemes and business bank accounts to deceive victims. He advised job seekers to verify the authenticity of employers before applying and to never pay advance fees for recruitment, training, laptops, registration or other employment-related services. He further urged anyone who suspects cyber fraud or the misuse of a bank account to report it immediately through the 1930 National Cyber Helpline or the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, noting that prompt reporting significantly improves the chances of freezing fraudulent accounts and recovering stolen funds.
