KAKINADA: The Kakinada district police have busted a massive cyber fraud racket and arrested three individuals involved in fraudulent transactions amounting to Rs 8.90 crore through 48 bank accounts.
Providing details on Friday, District Superintendent of Police G Bindu Madhav said efforts were underway to apprehend the mastermind behind the fraud, Putta Ram, who is currently operating from Dubai.
The investigation began after Karra Lova Krishna, a resident of Sambamurthynagar in Kakinada, lodged a complaint at the Kakinada I Town police station on January 31, 2025. Krishna reported that he was lured into opening a bank account with the promise of receiving Rs 5,000 per month.
48 bank accounts involved in fraud identified, frozen
Due to his limited understanding of banking procedures, he handed over his bank passbook, cheque book, ATM card, and SIM card to the individuals who made the offer.
After months of not receiving the promised payment, Krishna visited the Karnataka Bank branch in Kakinada. There, the bank staff informed him that nearly Rs 50 lakh had been transacted through his account. Alarmed, he immediately filed a police complaint.
Station Inspector Naga Durga Rao escalated the matter to SP G Bindu Madhav, who formed three special teams under the supervision of Kakinada SDPO Manish Devaraj Patil. The teams were led by Kakinada Crime CI V Krishna, Peddapuram CI R Ankababu, and I Town CI Naga Durga Rao.
The investigation revealed that Samalkot residents Narni Satish Chandra and Dasari Satyanarayana Prasad were involved in recruiting individuals like Krishna, particularly those with limited banking knowledge. They offered small sums of money in exchange for opening bank accounts, assuring them of monthly payments and future loans.
Satish Chandra provided a mobile SIM card for Aadhaar linking and instructed Krishna to open an account at Karnataka Bank. Once the account was opened, the entire bank kit-including the passbook, cheque book, and ATM card-was handed over to another accused, Karri Uday Kiran of Kakinada.
The account details were then forwarded to the key accused, Putta Ram, a native of Samalkot currently operating from Dubai. Investigators found that Ram had previously worked at a casino in Mumbai two decades ago before moving overseas.
Ram reportedly provided these fake bank account details to cyber fraudsters, who then made threatening calls to individuals across India. Victims were falsely told that suspicious courier packages were being delivered to their addresses, and to stop them, immediate payment was required. Fearing legal consequences, many victims complied and transferred money. The deposited funds were withdrawn by Putta Ram and his associates.
So far, three individuals, Narni Satish Chandra, Dasari Satyanarayana Prasad, and Karri Uday Kiran, have been arrested. Efforts are on to arrest Putta Ram in Dubai. Police have identified and frozen 48 bank accounts involved in the fraud, spread across HDFC Bank, IDBI Bank, Karnataka Bank, and Chaitanya Godavari Grameena Bank.