6 held for duping real-estate developer of Rs 3.76 crore, interstate cyber fraud syndicate busted

Police said that the interstate network was running a fake stock market investment scam. Describing their modus operandi, officers said that the accused relied on fake investment platforms, encrypted messaging apps and a web of mule bank accounts to siphon off money from victims across states. Once funds were transferred, they were quickly layered through multiple accounts to erase the trail, police said.

The matter came to light after a complaint was filed by Krishan Kumar, who approached police after realising that the ‘investment’ scheme into which he had put his money was fake, officers said.

“Krishan had joined a WhatsApp group which shared trading tips. He was then contacted by one of the fraudsters, who created his account on a ‘demat’ portal. He was then made to transfer money into an account in the name of investments,” an officer said.

For a month, he was sent screenshots of the profits he was making on his trading account and was lured to invest more, an officer said. But when Krishan wanted to withdraw his investment, he was discouraged.

“The accused told him that if he withdrew his money, he would have to pay a fee for it,” an officer said. Krishan realised he had fallen prey to a scam after the men stopped returning his calls.

An FIR was registered on September 15, 2025, and the probe was handed over to the Delhi Police’s Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO) unit.

“Police began by examining the bank accounts where the defrauded money had landed. One such transaction of Rs 10 lakh led them to a first-layer mule account of one Sablu Kumar, a Navi Mumbai resident. Initial searches in Mumbai failed, but we then traced his location to Rajasthan’s Kota, from where he was arrested on January 9,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (IFSO) Vineet Kumar said.

At his instance, police tracked and arrested Wasim Ahmad from Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad, to Southeast Delhi’s Jangpura on January 11. During a raid, he was arrested along with three associates Rajesh Khan, Sahid Ali and Mannu Issar. Forensic analysis of their mobile phones revealed details of multiple mule accounts, SIM cards and transaction logs used to move defrauded funds, police said.

“The sixth accused Manish Kumar was arrested on January 14. He was found to have played a key role in managing fund flows and supplying accounts used not only for investment fraud but also for ‘digital arrest’ scams. Analysis of his WhatsApp chats revealed links to bank accounts tied to at least 52 cybercrime complaints across multiple states,” DCP Kumar said.

According to the police, the arrested accused were primarily engaged in procuring, operating and managing mule bank accounts on a large scale, acting on instructions from foreign-based handlers.