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The cyber cell of Agra police on Tuesday arrested four members of a gang involved in online fraud by using bank accounts of innocent villagers to route illegally obtained money.
The gang targeted gullible villagers in rural areas, offering them small commissions or cash incentives in exchange for their identity documents to open bank accounts.
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Exploitation of Rural Accounts
These accounts were subsequently weaponized as mule accounts to layer and transfer funds generated through various cyber scams, including online investment fraud, part-time job rackets, and sextortion schemes executed across different states.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Rahul Kumar, Amit Singh, Deepak Sharma, and Vikas Yadav, all residents of different villages under the Etmadpur and Fatehabad police jurisdictions.
Anomalous Financial Velocity
According to police officials, the racket came to light during a technical surveillance sweep tracking anomalous financial velocity and high-volume transactions in newly opened rural bank accounts that did not match the profile of the account holders.
During initial interrogation, the accused confessed that they were operating as part of a larger multi-state network. They traveled to remote villages, presented themselves as micro-finance executives or government scheme facilitators, and collected Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, and biometric details from unsuspecting villagers under the pretext of checking eligibility for financial subsidies.
Seizure of Operative Toolkits
Once the accounts were activated, the physical checkbooks, debit cards, and linked SIM cards were kept by the gang members to allow their handlers unrestricted remote access to the banking credentials. The funds were rapidly moved through secondary accounts and subsequently withdrawn from various ATMs across state lines to prevent real-time reversals by enforcement agencies.
Police teams recovered 14 mobile phones, 22 pre-activated SIM cards, 11 debit cards, multiple passbooks, and forged identity documents during the targeted raids.
Ongoing Search for Kingpins
A formal case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology (IT) Act.
Efforts are underway to trace the primary handlers and masterminds of the network who are believed to be operating from urban tech hubs, while banks have been instructed to freeze the remaining balances in the compromised accounts.
