A cybercrime investigation in West Bengal’s Purulia district has exposed a network of 217 bank accounts allegedly used to move fraud proceeds, leading police to arrest six people, including two residents of Jharkhand.
Police said around ₹82 lakh was linked to the cyber fraud under investigation. Of this, nearly ₹40 lakh allegedly passed through a single bank account belonging to Shyamal Baran Sahis, a resident of Dhadka village under Bandwan police station.
His arrest became the entry point into what investigators believe was a wider network.
After questioning Sahis in custody, police arrested five more people. Investigators allege that members of the group were operating from a rented house in Purulia city and obtaining bank accounts and ATM cards from local residents for use in cyber fraud transactions.
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₹40 Lakh in One Account Led Police Deeper
The investigation is part of a special drive being conducted by Purulia Police against cybercrime.
Police have registered two suo motu cases at the Purulia Cyber Crime Police Station. A suo motu case means police begin proceedings on their own information rather than waiting for an individual victim to file a complaint.
During scrutiny of suspicious financial activity, investigators identified 217 bank accounts and several ATM points connected with the transactions. One account stood out.
Police found that around ₹40 lakh had allegedly been deposited into Sahis’s account. Following his interrogation, officers began tracing the people said to be connected with the movement of the money.
Among those arrested are Ankit Singh, a civil engineer working with a private company in Purulia, and his brother. Police also arrested two residents of Jharkhand and Rocky Bauri, a resident of the Para police station area.
All six accused were produced before a Purulia court, where police sought their custody for further questioning.
What Is a Mule Account and Why Do Fraudsters Need One?
A mule account is a bank account used to receive or move money obtained through crime.
The person whose name appears on the account may not always be the person conducting the original fraud. Instead, criminals may pay someone to hand over access to the account, ATM card, UPI credentials or internet banking facilities.
Think of it as using somebody else’s bank account as a temporary transit station for stolen money.
The more accounts the money passes through, the harder investigators have to work to trace it back to the fraudsters. This process is often called layering.
In the Purulia case, police allege that local youths were offered money in return for providing their bank accounts and ATM cards. Those accounts could then be used to receive and withdraw suspected cybercrime proceeds.
RBI has advised banks to strengthen real-time monitoring and use AI, machine learning and network analysis to identify suspicious mule-account networks. The Union Home Ministry told Parliament in March that such accounts remain an important part of cyber-enabled financial fraud.
Bengal Police Are Targeting the Financial Backbone of Cybercrime
The Purulia arrests come shortly after a much larger crackdown across West Bengal.
In August, Bengal Police launched Operation Cyber Prahar, an intelligence-led drive targeting cyber fraud infrastructure across the state.
Police registered 69 FIRs and arrested 107 people during the operation involving suspected fraud networks worth around ₹92.6 crore. The crackdown targeted not only alleged fraudsters but also mule bank accounts, suspicious ATM withdrawal points, SIM suppliers and illegal call centres. More than 400 SIM cards were deactivated, according to police sources cited by The Times of India.
That approach reflects an important change in cybercrime investigations.
Police are increasingly trying to dismantle the infrastructure behind scams instead of focusing only on whoever makes the fraudulent phone call or sends the malicious link.
Bank accounts are a critical part of that infrastructure.
A similar case uncovered by Kolkata Police in June involved 46 suspected mule accounts through which more than ₹1.3 crore from fraudulent online investment schemes was allegedly moved. Investigators said criminals retained control over debit cards, UPI handles and internet banking access to rapidly move the stolen funds.
In another Bengal case in May, police traced about ₹3.85 crore linked to at least 41 digital-arrest complaints through a mule account opened in the name of a welfare trust.
Renting Your Bank Account Can Put You Inside a Criminal Investigation
People who allow strangers to use their accounts sometimes believe they are simply earning a commission without participating in the original scam.
That assumption can carry serious consequences.
Kolkata Police warned earlier this year that people were renting bank accounts to fraud networks for commissions reportedly ranging from ₹5,000 to ₹20,000. Several account holders were subsequently arrested by police forces investigating cybercrime cases in other states.
For investigators, following the money can reveal links that phone numbers and online identities do not.
That is what makes the 217 accounts identified in Purulia significant. The investigation could now determine how many were knowingly supplied to fraudsters, where the ₹82 lakh originated, how much was withdrawn and whether the network extends further across West Bengal and Jharkhand.
Police have said they are looking for other people allegedly associated with the racket.
What this means for you: Never give another person your bank account, ATM card, UPI access or internet banking credentials in exchange for commission or rent. If fraud money enters your account, you can become part of the police money trail even if you did not personally scam the victim.
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