Pramesh S Jain
The Gadag Cyber Crime Police have arrested five accused involved in a cyber fraud racket in which bank accounts were fraudulently opened using students’ identities and later used for illegal 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).
Senior officer told reporters,that 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 the Bank of Maharashtra in Gadag.
He further said the accused even deposited an initial amount of Rs.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, 2026,and an investigation was launched.
During the probe,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.
Acting under the guidance of the Superintendent of Police of Gadag district,a police team led by the Deputy Superintendent of Police and personnel of the Cyber Crime 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 is currently absconding.
Based on further leads,police also 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.
Sahil (22),a student from Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh.
During the operation,police seized 11 mobile phones and eight bank kits used in the crime.The bank kits 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 the Bank of Maharashtra.
Police said the accused were produced before the court within the stipulated time.Preliminary investigation has revealed that several more bank accounts may have been opened using a similar modus operandi.
Further investigation is underway,including seeking police custody of the arrested accused for detailed interrogation and tracing three more absconding accused believed to be part of the wider cyber fraud network.
