The Madhya Pradesh State Cyber Police Headquarters has busted an interstate gang allegedly involved in supplying corporate bank accounts and related kits for large-scale cyber fraud and circulation of child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Acting on specific intelligence, officers arrested eight accused linked to Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh before major cyber offences could be executed, terming the move a “preventive strike” against an organised network.
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Tip-Off, Surveillance and Hotel Interception
Investigators received a tip that several suspects from Maharashtra had arrived in Bhopal with a black Hyundai Creta bearing a Maharashtra registration number, carrying bank accounts, SIM cards and cheque-book kits meant to be used for cyber cheating. A team was dispatched and located the vehicle near Chetak Bridge railway tracks, where five suspects—Praveen Basant Dasgude, Baban Rao Saheb, Gokul Basudev, Dhruv Mutkulbar and Atish Jain alias Pappu Sakre—were detained. Their interrogation led to the arrest of three more accused: Raju Lal Dhobi from Bhilwara (Rajasthan), and Azam Ali and Adil Pasha from Bhopal.
Corporate Accounts, CSAM Links and 188 Complaints
According to the Cyber Police, the accused admitted that, in return for commission, they procured and sold corporate bank accounts to other states’ agents and brokers to route cyber fraud proceeds. Accounts associated with them feature in around 188 cyber-fraud complaints filed by citizens across multiple states on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP), and some accounts were also used to transmit CSAM content online. The gang allegedly contacted agents and brokers to get frozen accounts—flagged in NCRP complaints—unfrozen for a commission, enabling further fraudulent transactions.
Car, ATM Cards, Foreign Currency and Devices Seized
From the accused, police seized one Hyundai Creta, about 35 ATM cards from different banks, seven cheques, one laptop, 10 mobile phones, foreign currency notes from Thailand, Sri Lanka and Dubai, a computer RAM module, three seal pads, one pen drive, and around five Aadhaar and five PAN cards suspected to be misused for account operations. Digital examination of seized mobiles and laptop revealed videos and material related to opening bank accounts, raising transfer limits and operating kits, which were allegedly shared with co-accused in other states, indicating a wider, organised interstate syndicate.
Case Registered Under BNS, IT Act and POCSO
A case has been registered at the Cyber and High-Tech Crime Police Station, Bhopal under Section 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Sections 66C, 66D, 84C, 67A and 67B of the IT Act, and Section 15 of the POCSO Act. Officials said further investigation is under way to identify upstream handlers, money-laundering channels, and other linked accounts used in cyber fraud and CSAM distribution.
