Hyderabad police bust gang using workers as cyber mule agents
HYDERABAD: Cybercrime investigators in the city uncovered a network of northern gangs that recruited auto drivers and delivery workers as mule agents to open bank accounts used in large-scale fraud.
Gang targeted daily-wage earners for bank accounts
Police said Pujari Jangaiah, an auto driver from Boduppal, met Kannaiya from Rajasthan during a ride from Secunderabad railway station to Begumpet in October 2023. During the journey, Kannaiya learnt about Jangaiah’s earnings and offered ₹10,000 for every new bank account opened for supposed gaming app transactions.
Jangaiah agreed and the two exchanged phone numbers. Weeks later, they met near Paradise, where Kannaiya handed him a pre-activated SIM card and sought a bank account based on that number. Jangaiah opened the account and collected the promised payment.
Family, friends and others roped in for more accounts
Jangaiah later opened accounts in the names of his wife, mother, relatives and friends in Federal Bank, Karnataka Bank, Utkarsh Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Mahaveer Bank, Tamilnad Mercantile Bank, Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank and Karur Vysya Bank.
He then joined hands with his relative, Gurudas Sunil Kumar from Boduppal, to bring in more people willing to provide Aadhaar and PAN details for small payments.
Network expanded after contact with main handlers
Police said Jangaiah realised Kannaiya was supplying the accounts to Poonam and Ramesh, both from Rajasthan. He bypassed Kannaiya and began dealing with them directly. He later formed a group with delivery worker Parlapalli Nikhil and auto driver Ganti Manideep to target unemployed youth in various localities.
Nikhil and Manideep eventually split from Jangaiah and teamed up with hardware technician Bollu Balu and delivery worker Polas Praveen to continue the operation. They were supported by Bilawat Balaji Naik, a former business development executive at Karur Vysya Bank.
Each account fetched ₹10,000 from the handlers, of which the team paid ₹6,000 to individuals who provided documents. In all, 127 bank accounts were opened and supplied to the handlers.
Lead from Chilakalguda exposed the racket
The case surfaced when Jangaiah approached a Chilakalguda resident and offered ₹7,000 for opening a bank account. The information reached the East Zone Task Force, which formed a team under inspector Chandrasekhar with sub-inspectors P Nagaraju, M Ananthachari and S Karunakar Reddy.
Investigators arrested eight members of the network. Three others are absconding.
Police said transactions worth ₹24.10 crore were deposited in the mule accounts, of which ₹23.99 crore was withdrawn by the main handlers based in northern states.
Cases linked to the accounts have been registered in Rachakonda, Rajendranagar, Karnataka and Rajasthan. Another 21 petitions are pending on the cybercrime portal. The accused were handed over to the City Cybercrime police station for further investigation.
