Ahmedabad: Four more accused were arrested in separate cybercrime cases on Friday under ‘Operation Mule Hunt 2.0’. This includes a key account holder linked to a Rs 161 crore nationwide fraud that used fake businesses and mule accounts to channel scam proceeds.According to officials of Gujarat CID Crime’s Cyber Centre of Excellence, the principal breakthrough involved Vishal Dodiya from the Vastral area of Ahmedabad, who allegedly registered a bogus firm, Chamunda Communication, and opened three bank accounts. These credentials were supplied to cyber syndicates across India. National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal data linked these accounts to 253 complaints across 22 states and Union territories involving fraud over Rs 161 crore. Maharashtra recorded the highest complaints (56), followed by Karnataka (28) and Gujarat (23), Telangana (20), Uttar Pradesh (20), Rajasthan (18), Tamil Nadu (16) and Delhi (14).
Arrested individuals
In a separate investigation into the Bhavnagar District Cooperative Bank hacking case, the CID arrested Mohammad Husain and Soyab Rana, both from Surat. Police alleged that hackers had illegally accessed the bank’s server, database, and core banking system to create fictitious account balances, and transfer Rs 7.34 crore into multiple bank accounts. The two accused allegedly provided and operated bank accounts used to receive and move the siphoned funds.The fourth arrest was of Afzal Mansuri from Ahmedabad, wanted in another mule account case. Police had earlier found 197 bank accounts in that probe, with 60 linked to 132 pan-India complaints involving Rs 53.55 crore. Mansuri allegedly managed these accounts to facilitate cash withdrawals.
Mule Hunt 2.0
Over the past month, Operation Mule Hunt 2.0 has led to 55 arrests linked to frauds worth Rs 802 crore, spanning 1,117 complaints nationwide.
