In a major crackdown against digital financial crimes, the Aerodrome police station in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, has busted a syndicate supplying mule bank accounts as part of the ongoing Operation Matrix. Law enforcement agencies successfully apprehended six individuals involved in the racket, while one more suspect remains at large. Preliminary investigations reveal that the bank accounts operated by the syndicate handled transactions worth crores of rupees, which were directly utilized for routing proceeds from cyber frauds. A comprehensive technical probe by police linked these accounts to approximately 200 cyber fraud cases registered across various jurisdictions.
Massive transactions running into crores found across accounts
The breakthrough originated from an FIR registered at the Aerodrome police station regarding an online cyber fraud of Rs 1,44,000. During the investigation into the destination of the swindled funds, the trail led authorities to bank accounts held by Suraj Jaiswal and Aman Chauhan. Scrutiny of the bank details and KYC documents revealed astonishing figures, with Suraj Jaiswal's account showing transactions totaling around Rs 3 crore 42 lakh, while Aman Chauhan's account recorded transactions of roughly Rs 17.5 lakh. Acting on this crucial lead, police detained Suraj Jaiswal for sustained questioning, which eventually unraveled the operations of the organized syndicate. Following this disclosure, a police team conducted raids in the MIG area and rounded up the remaining suspects.
Syndicate rented bank accounts to orchestrate digital frauds
According to police disclosures, the mastermind behind the operation is identified as Harsh, who procured bank accounts from vulnerable individuals by paying them meager sums ranging between four to five thousand rupees. The syndicate utilized the checkbooks, ATM cards, and registered mobile SIM cards tied to these rented accounts to facilitate cyber criminal activities. The arrested individuals include Suraj Jaiswal, Harsh, Sandeep alias Saurabh, Uman alias Pawan, Hariom, and Ayush, whereas Aman Chauhan has been flagged as the absconding accused. During the operations, police recovered 34 ATM and debit cards from various banks, 12 passbooks, 24 checkbooks, a Wi-Fi router, eight mobile phones, Rs 1,08,000 in cash, and a ledger diary from the possession of the accused.
Nationwide network under scanner with organized crime charges invoked
Authorities stated that these accounts are linked to roughly 200 FIRs filed nationwide. Investigators are currently tracing the geographical origin of the crores of rupees deposited into these accounts and identifying the ultimate beneficiaries where the funds were funneled. Efforts are also underway to unearth other kingpins pulling the strings behind this extensive financial network. In light of the scale of operations, Section 112 of the BNS concerning organized crime has been invoked against the accused. Furthermore, law enforcement will examine the potential complicity of bank officials and investigate how such massive multi-million transactions bypassed standard banking system alerts.
A specialized network engineered to build fraudulent mule accounts
Police emphasized that this is not merely a localized network renting out passive bank accounts, but an organized syndicate systematically engineering mule accounts tailored for cyber thefts. Interrogation of the arrested suspects is currently ongoing, and investigators expect that thorough financial tracing will help uncover further links in this sprawling cyber crime enterprise.
