Hyderabad: Operation Octopus cyber fraud crackdown led to the arrest of 104 accused across 16 states in one of the largest coordinated actions against online financial crime, Hyderabad City Police said on Tuesday.
The 10-day drive dismantled a sprawling pan-India cyber fraud syndicate. Police linked the network to 1,055 cybercrime cases involving fraud worth about Rs 127 crore.
Among those arrested were 86 mule account holders, 17 account suppliers or aggregators, and one bank official. Officials said the accused operated a massive laundering chain that siphoned and layered illegal proceeds.
The operation was spearheaded by DCP (Cybercrimes) V. Aravind Babu under the supervision of Commissioner of Police V.C. Sajjanar and Joint Commissioner S.M. Vijay Kumar.
Operation Octopus cyber fraud exposed laundering network
Investigators from the Cyber Crime Police Station identified 151 bank accounts used to route fraud money. The accounts handled proceeds from investment scams, trading frauds and so-called digital arrest scams.
During the raids, police seized 204 mobile phones and 141 SIM cards. They also recovered 152 bank passbooks, 234 debit and credit cards, and 26 laptops. In addition, teams confiscated 56 corporate stamps and Rs 36 lakh in cash.
A total of 32 special teams, led by Inspectors, carried out simultaneous raids. The teams operated in Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand and Odisha.
Police reiterated their zero-tolerance policy against cybercrime. They said investigations are continuing to identify and arrest higher-level masterminds behind the Operation Octopus cyber fraud network.