KPHB police bust mule account racket linked to online betting, arrest two
HYDERABAD: Cyberabad Cyber Crime Police busted a sophisticated cyber fraud ring, arresting two alleged masterminds behind a sprawling network of mule bank accounts used for illegal online betting. The crackdown, which led to the seizure of 14 mobile phones and the discovery of 23 Airtel Payments Bank accounts, has revealed the intricate web of digital deception lurking beneath the city’s surface.
According to the Cyber Crime Police, the complainant Karingula Raju, 32, Sub-Inspector of Police at KPHB Police Station. He stated that on September 30, 2026, at about 8 am, he received credible information that a cybercrime gang was operating within his sector in the limits of KPHB Police Station. Acting on the information, he, along with two police constables of the Special Operations Team(SOT), proceeded to the spot.
On reaching near KTR Ground, KPHB, he found two suspicious persons who, upon enquiry, identified themselves as Pallapolu Vamana Reddy, 41, a software employee and a resident of KPHB, and Vasagani Srinivas alias Prabhas, 34, in the cloth business, a resident of KPHB. Both attempted to flee on seeing the police and were apprehended and questioned.
Mule account operation
According to the police, the suspect Pallapolu Vamana Reddy, described as a mule-account operator, disclosed that he used to participate in cricket betting through online applications, which caused him huge losses. While regularly searching for easy money on Telegram, he came across the “ZYNTRA Active Subscribers Group,” which offered commission for mule accounts. He habitually used the betting application ZYNTRA for illegal earnings but suffered a complete loss, and to overcome the loss he joined the group, which provided commission on the basis that he provide bank accounts into which amounts would be deposited and update him through the application, sharing QR codes and bank account details to which he was required to transfer the amounts after retaining his commission of 5 per cent on each transaction.
He disclosed that he had entered account numbers and IFSC codes for supporting the ZYNTRA application in its illegal money-earning activities and had earned a commission of about 5 per cent of the total transactions in the accounts. He had collected bank accounts from different persons, collected SIM cards from the respective account holders and procured second-hand mobile phones from different shops to conduct transactions through the mule accounts. He had paid the account holders about 1 per cent, ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 10,000 depending upon the transaction amount, and to procure more accounts he had taken the support of Vasagani Srinivas alias Prabhas.
While procuring bank accounts from the public, they had collected all KYC information, including identity documents, bank kits and SIM cards of the account holders, thereby obtaining complete access to the accounts for conducting online betting transactions. A few accounts had been obtained by using fake business documents for opening current bank accounts.
Supplier also disclosed role
The police added that Vasagani Srinivas, described as a mule-account supplier, disclosed that he had been working with Vamana for the previous three months and had come into contact with him for procuring mule accounts, identifying account holders and processing them for the fraud. He had collected bank kits from account holders and supplied them to Vamana and received a commission of about 1 per cent on the transaction amount. As the activity was fetching easy money, he had colluded with Vamana Reddy in procuring bank accounts and SIM cards and supplying them to the ZYNTRA providers, who in turn provided them commission regularly.
Upon searching the bags of the suspects, 14 mobile phones were found, and on examination, 23 Airtel Payments Bank account numbers being used through the phones for the illegal operation were identified. As the modus operandi pertained to cybercrimes, both accused were taken into custody and brought to the Cyber Crime Police Station, Cyberabad, Gachibowli.
The complainant submitted that the matter involved grave public interest, affecting innocent citizens whose bank accounts and identities were being misused for illegal betting and possible money-laundering activities. Based on the complaint, Cyberabad Cyber Crime registered a case, and further investigation is underway.
