Gadag (Karnataka), March 16 Five men were arrested for allegedly luring students with false promises of scholarship money and other incentives to open mule bank accounts in their names for illegal transactions, police said on Monday.
The accused were identified as Vakdoth Vakeel (24), Raju (23), Zeeshan Ansari (22), Akash (32), and Sahil (22).
Vakdoth and Raju, both residents of Huvina Hadagali taluk in Vijayanagara district, colluded with the intention of committing cyber fraud and approached students staying at a boys hostel here.
According to police, by gaining their trust through false promises of scholarship money and other inducements, the accused duo convinced the students to open bank accounts in their respective names at the Bank of Maharashtra in Gadag city.
The accused themselves provided the initial deposit of Rs 2,000 for each account. After the accounts were opened, they deceitfully collected the passbooks, ATM cards, internet banking details, and the SIM cards linked to these accounts.
Based on the information gathered regarding this fraud, a case was registered on behalf of the government on March 11, and an investigation is underway.
Following a tip-off that Vakdoth and Raju were travelling to Goa to hand over the collected bank passbooks, ATM cards, linked SIM cards, and internet banking user IDs and passwords, their location was being tracked and they were subsequently apprehended, police said.
"During the inquiry, it was confirmed that the accused had lured innocent account holders with false promises to open bank accounts in order to misuse them for cyber frauds, and subsequently collected all their account-related information," an officer said.
The duo revealed during questioning that they had travelled to Goa to discuss the commission for the eight fraudulently opened bank accounts with one of the other accused, Kumar, a resident of Attikatti village in Haveri district.
However, Kumar has not yet been traced, he said.
Subsequently, based on the information provided by them, three other accomplices were taken into custody.
With their arrests, police have seized 11 mobile phones, three bank kits pertaining to accounts opened at the Bank of Maharashtra in Haveri district and five bank kits pertaining to accounts opened at the Bank of Maharashtra in Gadag district.
"The investigation has revealed that the said accused have opened several more such accounts and efforts are being taken to nab three more accused who are currently absconding in the case," he added.