An eight-member gang, including a private bank official, that opened more than 120 mule bank accounts and supplied them to cyber fraudsters operating from outside the State, were arrested during a joint operation by the cybercrime wing of the Hyderabad police and the Commissioner’s Task Force, East Zone, on Tuesday.
The gang provided bank account kits to cyber criminals, enabling large-scale online frauds and cheated people across many States. The total value of transactions routed through these accounts amounts to over ₹24 crore.
The arrested were identified as Poojari Jagadish, alias Jaggu, 31; Gurudas Sunil Kumar, 40; Gunti Manideep, 27; Parlapalli Nikhil, 29; Bollu Balu, 21; Battula Pavan, 24; Polas Praveen, 29; and Bilavath Balaji Naik, 27. Meanwhile, three, including Kannaiah, Ramesh and Poonam, all natives of Rajasthan, are currently on the run.
Investigation revealed that the scheme began in October 2023 when auto driver Poojari Jagadish met a passenger named Kannaiah from Rajasthan while driving his auto at Chilkalguda. After learning of Jagadish’s financial struggles, Kannaiah allegedly offered him ₹10,000 per bank account for gaming-related transactions. Jagadish agreed, opened an account using his Aadhaar and PAN, and handed over the passbook, ATM card and credentials. Encouraged by the easy money, he later opened several more accounts in the names of his wife, mother, relatives and friends in various banks, including Federal Bank, Karnataka Bank, Utkarsh Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Mahaveer Bank, Tamil Nadu Mercantile Bank, Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, and Karur Vyshya Bank.
As the operation expanded, Jagadish teamed up with his relative, Sunil Kumar, and began recruiting others. Eventually, they came in contact with Poonam and Ramesh, and also involved Nikhil, a delivery agent, and Manideep, an auto driver, who were drawn in and paid between ₹1,500 and ₹3,000 per account. Further Manideep contacted Poonam and formed his own group with Pavan and Praveen, continuing the illegal activity.
One of the accused, Balaji Nayak, a business development executive at Karur Vyshya Bank, allegedly helped facilitate bank account openings. All account kits, including ATM cards, passbooks and cheque books, were sent to the absconding fraudsters via courier services.
During the raid, police seized 11 passbooks, 14 ATM cards, 12 cheque books, 30 courier consignment receipts, six SIM cards, notebooks containing account details, a biometric device, a tablet and eight mobile phones.
Investigations revealed that the gang opened 127 bank accounts. Transactions amounting to ₹24,10,16,618 were credited into the mule accounts, of which ₹23,99,31,550 was debited. Only ₹16,31,155 remains frozen. The fraud was linked to at least 21 National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) petitions and cases registered in Telangana, Karnataka and Rajasthan.
Meanwhile, the police urged people not to open bank accounts on behalf of others or share personal credentials, warning that such actions could be exploited for cybercrime. A special team has been formed to trace the absconding accused.
Published – November 25, 2025 06:52 pm IST
