AHMEDABAD: A Gujarat fruit vendor hoping to raise capital to start his business agreed to let others use his bank account for Rs 15,000. But when the promised payment never arrived, he checked his account and discovered transactions worth Rs 19 lakh.His complaint to the police over the unpaid amount eventually led to the exposure of an alleged cybercrime syndicate that routed at least Rs 2.2 crore in suspected fraud proceeds through five bank accounts, allegedly linked to casinos in Goa.Kamlesh Talpada, 35, a resident of Nadiad, approached Kheda district cybercrime police after discovering the transactions in his account. According to the FIR filed on October 23, he had handed over his banking kit, account credentials and the SIM card linked to his account to two men who had promised him Rs 15,000 in exchange for its use for a month.Talpada told police that he had shared his financial difficulties with his friend Bhavin Darji, an autorickshaw driver. Darji allegedly introduced him to Janak Thakkar, a Vadodara resident who was said to be arranging bank accounts for the operation.On July 10, Thakkar allegedly offered Talpada Rs 15,000 in exchange for allowing the use of his savings account for a month. He reportedly told Talpada that the money would be paid once the funds reached his accounts. Talpada was allegedly assured that the account would be used to transfer money received at casinos in Goa and that the arrangement was lawful.Talpada opened a bank account at a branch in Nadiad’s ST Nagar area on July 28. About a week later, after the account was activated, he allegedly handed over the banking kit, account credentials and linked SIM card to Darji and Thakkar.However, the promised Rs 15,000 never arrived. After repeatedly asking for the payment, Talpada checked his account on October 6 and discovered transactions worth Rs 19.1 lakh.According to the FIR, the money had entered his account through IMPS transfers from different accounts and was subsequently withdrawn or transferred through IMPS, RTGS and UPI transactions.Alarmed by the activity, Talpada deactivated the SIM card linked to the account and approached the police. He also told investigators that two men allegedly visited him on October 16 and 19, asking him to reactivate the SIM card to facilitate withdrawals and transfers.Five accounts allegedly routed Rs 2.2 croreThe investigation revealed that Talpada’s account was allegedly part of a wider network involving multiple bank accounts. According to the complaint, transactions worth Rs 1.5 crore were recorded in an account belonging to Darji with another bank. Two other accounts recorded transactions of Rs 4.59 lakh and Rs 1.4 lakh, respectively, while another account allegedly saw transactions worth Rs 47.6 lakh.The five accounts were allegedly used to receive, transfer and conceal money linked to cyberfraud and illegal gaming, the FIR stated. Talpada estimated the total amount involved at Rs 2.2 crore.Goa-based contacts named in FIRThe FIR names three people based in Goa — Vishal Panchal alias Goli, Sajid and Algari — as the intended recipients of the banking kits. It also identifies Hitesh alias Vinayak Panchal, described as an Ahmedabad resident living in Goa, as another contact in the alleged chain.Police are investigating the alleged network and the movement of funds through the accounts.
