Police have arrested five accused who fraudulently opened bank accounts allegedly using identities of students and later used these accounts for illegal cybercrime transactions.
The case was registered at the Gadag Cyber Crime Police Station under Sections 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, 2008, and Sections 318, 319(2), 61(2), and 112 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.
According to the police, the main accused, Raja, 23, and Vakdoth Vakeel, 24, both residents of Dasarahalli Tanda in Huvina Hadagali taluk of Vijayanagara district, allegedly conspired to commit cyber fraud. They targeted students residing at the Post-Metric Professional Boys’ Hostel on Kalasapur Road in Gadag city.
The accused reportedly gained the trust of the students by falsely promising scholarship assistance and persuaded them to open bank accounts in their names at Bank of Maharashtra in Gadag.
The police said the accused even deposited an initial amount of ₹2,000 in each account to facilitate the process. After the accounts were opened, they allegedly collected the passbooks, ATM cards, internet banking credentials and SIM cards linked to those accounts.
Based on credible information, a case was registered on March 11, and an investigation was launched.
During the probe, the police received information that the accused were travelling to Goa to hand over the collected bank kits and credentials to other members of the network. The cybercrime police tracked their movements and apprehended them.
During interrogation, the two accused revealed that they had gone to Goa to discuss commission related to eight fraudulently opened bank accounts with another accused identified as Kumar, a resident of Attikatti Tanda, who was absconding.
Based on further leads, the police apprehended three more accused, Zeeshan Ansari alias Zeesu, 22, a hotel worker originally from Jharkhand and staying in a hotel room near Calangute Beach in Goa, Akash, 32, a DJ artist from Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, currently residing near Mapusa in Goa, and Sahil, 22, a student from Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh.
During the operation, the police seized 11 mobile phones and eight bank kits, which included passbooks, ATM cards, linked SIM cards and internet banking credentials. Of these, three bank kits were linked to accounts opened in Haveri district and five in Gadag district, all with Bank of Maharashtra.
The investigation revealed that several more bank accounts might have been opened using a similar modus operandi.
The police have launched a search to track three more fleeing accused believed to be part of the network.
Published – March 16, 2026 06:13 pm IST
