HYDERABAD: In a pan-India operation, the Hyderabad City Cyber Crimes (CCS) unit has arrested 52 poeple for their alleged involvement in defrauding unsuspecting people of Rs 88.32 crore.
Conducted by seven specialised teams, the crackdown has led to the detection of 33 major cybercrime cases registered at the CCS police station. The accused were linked to 576 fraud cases nationwide, including 74 in Telangana, with authorities recovering Rs 87.89 lakh in total — Rs 47.9 lakh in cash and Rs 40 lakh in cryptocurrency. The fraud schemes ranged from trading and investment scams to data theft, social media fraud, part-time job scams and USDT purchase fraud. The police operation spanned Gujarat (Surat), Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh (Nellore), New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Bihar and Hyderabad.
Among those arrested were three senior bank officials accused of enabling fraudulent transactions worth crores. Shubham Kumar Jha, deputy manager at RBL Bank in Bengaluru, allegedly siphoned Rs 93 lakh by exploiting his access to sensitive financial data. Haroon Rasheed Imamuddin Dharawad, assistant vice president at Axis Bank in Bengaluru, reportedly bypassed banking protocols to approve illegal transactions, facilitating the siphoning of large sums.
Kata Srinivasa Rao, a sales manager at Kotak Mahindra Bank, was tied to a Rs 2.06 crore fraud. He is accused of recruiting customers into fake schemes and laundering money through illicit accounts, the police said.
The CCS also apprehended two individuals from Gujarat — Harpal Singh (50) and Saiyad Aiyub Bhai (50) — for their alleged involvement in digital frauds. The police said the duo, accused in 17 cases across the country, manipulated victims through online intimidation and threats.