Hyderabad: Another arrested in mule bank accounts case

Hyderabad:The Telangana State Cyber Security Bureau arrested another accused, Kesara Kesava Reddy, alias Maha, a resident of Bengaluru, for operating money mule bank accounts.

The police seized seven mobile phones, two laptops, seven SIM cards, 22 SIM card vouchers without SIM cards, 10 bank passbooks and chequebooks, and 19 debit cards from his possession. According to TSCSB, in the ongoing investigation into the case of opening mule accounts, the bureau apprehended Kesara Kesava Reddy (33) in Cr No 05/2024 of CCPS (Hqrs).

Surya Prakash, Deputy SP of TSCSB, stated that Kesava Reddy has been involved in online cricket betting. In February 2023, he connected with individuals through social media engaged in gaming and IPL betting online. Seeking quick earnings, he joined hands with them, tasked with procuring mule bank accounts for online gaming and betting transactions. In furtherance of this, he got in touch with Pranay Shinde and his associates to open mule bank accounts. The accused was offered a 30 percent commission on the transactions.

Earlier in this case, TSCSB arrested Shindhe Pranay, Vanikar Naveen, and Arugula Laxman in May 2024. Pranay and his associates played a key role in opening 125 mule bank accounts for commission. They made residents of Bhainsa and neighbouring villages open 125 bank accounts across various banks. These individuals took the net banking credentials, ATM cards, and chequebooks from the account holders, paying them Rs 5,000 per account. Subsequently, they shared the account details with Kesava Reddy, who deposited funds from online game players into these accounts. Large-scale transactions were conducted through these accounts.

The Bureau informed that further investigation is ongoing to ascertain various other national and international links in the case.