Kochi Oct 30 (IANS) In a sweeping operation to curb the rising menace of online fraud, Kerala Police on Thursday arrested 263 people across the state under ‘Operation Sai Hunt’, a coordinated action aimed at dismantling cybercrime networks.
Announcing the details, ADG of Police S. Sreejith, who led the crackdown, said that police teams registered 382 cases during the operation, which targeted those acting as conduits for fraudsters either by renting or selling their bank accounts or withdrawing scam proceeds through cheques and ATMs.
“In all, the loss to people has been around Rs 300 crores. While the victims include people from outside the state, the accused are all from Kerala. We will not stop with this; instead, we will extend our probe outside Kerala,” said Sreejith.
The raids, which began at 7 a.m. on Thursday and continued late into the night, covered multiple districts.
In Ernakulam Rural, police made 43 arrests, the highest among all districts.
The largest numbers were reported from Kothamangalam and Muvattupuzha, with eight arrests each, followed by Aluva, Edathala, and Perumbavoor (four each) and Thadiyittaparambu (three).
Searches were carried out at 102 locations in total.
In Kalady, police arrested Aneesh (40) of Kavalangattuthara House, Srimoolanagaram, whose account received Rs 76.38 lakh through 24 transactions from multiple sources.
Investigators said the account functioned as a mule account through which money was withdrawn both via cheques and electronic transfers for organised cybercrime.
In Kothamangalam, Mohammed Yaseen (22) of Vattakkudi, Inchur, was arrested and remanded after Rs 2.97 lakh was found routed into his account through fraudulent means.
In Muvattupuzha, the arrested include Ajnas (35) of East Vazhapilly, Sajjad (20) of Mulavoor, Arshad (20) and Musthafa Davood (22) of Peraykkappilly, Shefees (35) of Vazhapilly, Muhammad Rizwan (20) of Peraykkappilly, and Muhammad Shameem (22) of Mulavoor.
Police said these individuals were part of a larger network aiding organised cybercriminals by providing access to local bank accounts.
The ADGP added that similar state-level drives will continue until cybercrime “mule networks” are completely neutralised.
–IANS
sg/dan