5 held in Karnataka for luring students to open mule accounts

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, Mar 17, 2026: Officials from the Karnataka Cyber Crime Unit (CCU) have arrested five individuals for allegedly luring students to open mule bank accounts that were later used for cyber fraud.

The arrested accused have been identified as Raja (23) and Vakdoth Vakeel (24), both farmers from Vijayanagar district; Zeeshan Ansari (22), a hotel worker from Jharkhand; Akash (32), a DJ from Chhattisgarh; and Sahil (22), a student from Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh.

According to investigators, Vakeel and Raja approached students staying at the post-matric professional boys’ hostel on Kalasapur Road in Gadag and gained their trust by promising scholarship benefits and other incentives. They persuaded the students to open bank accounts in their names at the Bank of Maharashtra branch in Gadag, even paying the initial deposit of ₹2,000 for each account.

After the accounts were opened, the accused allegedly collected the passbooks, ATM cards, SIM cards linked to the accounts, and internet banking details from the students, thereby gaining complete control over the accounts.

On March 11, cyber investigators received information that Vakeel and Raja were travelling to Goa to hand over the bank account kits to other members of the network. Acting on the tip-off, officials tracked their movement and arrested all five suspects.

During the operation, police recovered eight bank account kits—including passbooks, ATM cards, linked SIM cards and internet banking credentials—as well as 11 mobile phones.

Officials said the investigation has revealed that the accused may have opened several more such accounts. Efforts are underway to trace three additional suspects believed to be part of the next level of the network.

The investigation was conducted under the supervision of Pronab Mohanty, DGP (Cyber Command), Karnataka.