Karnataka cybercrime gang busted: The Karnataka Police on Monday laid hands on five persons for allegedly running a racket, which lured students on the pretext of scholarships and used to persuade them into opening bank accounts, which were later used by the accused to channel money procured through cyber-crime. According to police, the gang was operating in the state’s Gadag city, and targeted unsuspecting students by posing as benefactors offering financial assistance.

Accused hail from different states

The cops identified the accused as Vakdoth Vakeel (24) and Raja (23), both native residents of Huvina Hadagali taluk in Vijayanagara district of Karnataka. The other accused were identified as Zeeshan Ansari alias Zeesu (22), a hotel worker hailing from Jharkhand, who was residing in Goa, Akash (32), a DJ from Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur, and Sahil Tekchandani (22), a student from the same city. 

The investigating police officials said that the gang targeted students residing in a boys’ hostel in Gadag and convinced them to open bank accounts at a local branch of the Bank of Maharashtra. To make their ‘scholarship’ claim seem legitimate, the accused even used to deposit Rs 2,000 into every newly opened account. After the accounts were activated, the gang members used to collect the passbooks, ATM cards and internet banking credentials from the student owning them, gaining complete control over the accounts. The police said that later, the culprits used these bank accounts as ‘mule accounts’ to route cyber-crime proceeds and illegal online gaming transactions. 

Karnataka cybercrime gang busted: Tracking leads to arrests

The case came to light recently after the Gadag Cyber, Economic and Narcotics (CEN) police registered an FIR on March 11. Soon after this, they nabbed Vakeel and Raja and kept them under surveillance. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Mahanthesh Sajjan said that the duo was intercepted while travelling to Goa, to hand eight mule account kits to their handler, identified as Kumar. The DSP added that Kumar is at large currently. 

Continuing their investigation, the police arrested the remaining three accused and seized 11 cell phones, as well as 18 bank account kits from their possession. The authorities suspect a larger syndicate behind the illegal operation, and have invoked provisions of the Information Technology (IT) Act and the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita against the arrested accused.

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