Surat: Cybercrime police arrested two alleged ‘money mules‘’ from Giridih district of Jharkhand in connection with an APK-based cyberfraud case, after a four-day operation 1,800 kilometres away from Gujarat.The accused, Rupalal Mandal (29) and Mukesh Mandal (31), allegedly helped receive, withdraw and transfer money linked to cyberfraud. Police found that bank accounts operated by the duo received around Rs 65 lakh between July 2025 and Feb 2026.DCP (cybercrime) Bishakha Jain said the investigation began after a Surat resident lost Rs 10.65 lakh from his bank account after downloading an APK file. A case was registered in Nov and during the investigation police arrested Rajeshwar Swain and Jia-Ur-Rehman in Dec. Their interrogation allegedly revealed the involvement of Rupalal and Mukesh.To trace and arrest the two in Giridih, a Surat cybercrime police stayed in the district for four days and disguised themselves as vegetable, sugarcane juice and coconut vendors while conducting surveillance.According to police, Rupalal opened two bank accounts in his own name and handed over the bank kits to a wanted accused. He allegedly withdrew the fraud proceeds deposited into the accounts and handed the cash over to the accused. Police said Rupalal received Rs 1.52 lakh as a 3% commission for his role.Mukesh allegedly acted as the link between the account holders and the wanted accused. Police said he received a 7% commission on the deposited amount, of which he paid 3% to the account holder and kept 4%.Investigation into the wider cyberfraud network is currently underway, police said.
