Hyderabad City Police convened a high-level coordination meeting with senior banking sector representatives on Thursday, seeking to tighten safeguards against mule accounts and strengthen institutional responses to organised cyber fraud in the wake of Operation Octopus and the arrest of bank officials allegedly linked to fraudulent account openings.
Banks Told to Shift Focus From Targets to Safety
Commissioner of Police VC Sajjanar called for a twin-challenge framework that would move branch priorities away from account-opening targets and towards citizen safety and institutional integrity. He said these goals should be built into branch-level key performance indicators, with compliance formally recognised and rewarded by senior bank officials.
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The meeting was attended by 75 representatives from 45 public and private sector banks, including regional managers, zonal managers, general managers, deputy general managers and nodal officers. It was co-attended by Additional Commissioner of Police M Srinivasulu and Chinmoy Kumar, Regional Director of the Reserve Bank of India, while the operation was conducted under the guidance of DCP V Aravind Babu and ACP RG Siva Maruthi.
Zero Mule Accounts Set as Measurable Goal
The Commissioner said no customer linked to a branch should fall victim to cybercrime and that zero cybercrime victims should become a measurable target, to be monitored through NCRP complaint data linked to each branch. He also said no mule account should be opened at any branch, adding that strict KYC compliance, enhanced due diligence and real-time monitoring were essential operational requirements.
Sajjanar said bank managements must not treat the volume of account openings as a performance metric. He warned that branches prioritising targets over diligence become primary entry points for fraud networks. He also called for a zero-tolerance policy towards cybercrime at every level of the organisation, from frontline staff to senior management, and said branch KPIs should include monitoring of NCRP complaints attributed to the branch, along with proactive remediation.
Police Flag Insider Role in Organised Fraud Networks
The Commissioner also told the meeting that strict disciplinary action must be taken against KYC verifiers found involved in fraudulent account openings, along with periodic forensic audits of accounts opened by flagged officials. He urged bank staff to show empathy and offer prompt, structured support to customers who fall victim to cyber fraud, including guiding them to the national helpline 1930 and the cybercrime portal.
The briefing outlined the operating methods of cyber fraud syndicates active across India, with networks said to be headquartered in countries including Cambodia, Vietnam and Dubai. These groups were described as relying on intermediaries within India to procure bank accounts by colluding with bank officials, particularly KYC verifiers, in order to siphon funds from Indian victims. Hyderabad City Police said Operation Octopus would continue as an ongoing initiative until organised cyber fraud networks are comprehensively dismantled.
About the author – Rehan Khan is a law student and legal journalist with a keen interest in cybercrime, digital fraud, and emerging technology laws. He writes on the intersection of law, cybersecurity, and online safety, focusing on developments that impact individuals and institutions in India.
