Hyderabad, January 29: The Hyderabad Police have arrested 53 individuals associated with a digital trading group involved in online cyber fraud. City Police Commissioner CV Anand provided details of the case during a media briefing at the CP office.
Commissioner Anand revealed that the investigation uncovered the direct involvement of officials from various banks in the fraudulent activities. Among those arrested are Shubham Kumar Jha, Deputy Manager, and Rashid, Assistant Vice President of Axis Bank, as well as R. Mohan, a fabrication business owner from Bengaluru. In one instance, a trading scam amounting to ₹9.3 million was identified, spanning India, Nepal, and China.
The modus operandi involved luring victims through WhatsApp groups. Initially, victims were enticed with promises of profits, leading them to invest small amounts, which yielded returns. Encouraged by these initial gains, victims invested larger sums, eventually realising they had been defrauded. The perpetrators, leveraging their positions as bank officials, created numerous fake accounts to facilitate the fraud.
In another case, Srinivas, an employee of Kotak Mahindra Bank, used his connections to open fraudulent accounts and sent deceptive messages to potential victims. Commissioner Anand emphasised that such messages are typically the work of cybercriminals and cautioned the public against falling prey to them.
The police also apprehended Mohammed Junaid, who was involved in cryptocurrency exchanges related to the fraud. Officers Madhulatha, Vinay Kumar, and Abhishek were instrumental in these arrests. In a separate incident, a well-known doctor couple in the city was defrauded by individuals who extorted money by threatening them with money laundering charges.
The Hyderabad Police seized a significant number of chequebooks, mobile phones, laptops, and rubber stamps from the arrested individuals. Commissioner Anand highlighted that the involvement of bank officials facilitated these digital crimes and reiterated the police’s commitment to combating such fraudulent activities.
