Hyderabad's Cybercrime Police have arrested two men — Gumma Ramesh, 39, and Mudale Anil, 19, both residents of Ramanthapur, Hyderabad — for allegedly collecting and supplying approximately 70 mule bank accounts to cybercriminals. The accounts were reportedly linked to 450 cybercrime cases across India, involving transactions estimated at ₹60–70 crore, police said on Sunday, 11 October 2026.

How the Mule Account Network Operated

According to S. Chaitanya Kumar, in-charge Deputy Commissioner of Police at the Cybercrime Police Station, the accused cited inadequate income as the motivation behind their actions. Ramesh, who had previously lived in Bidar district, Karnataka, relocated to Hyderabad due to financial hardship and was working as a cab driver when he allegedly developed contacts with cyber fraudsters.

Ramesh, along with an absconding co-accused, reportedly approached students, delivery partners, and other individuals in and around the Ramanthapur area, inducing approximately 60–70 persons to surrender their bank accounts and SIM cards in exchange for commissions. After collecting passbooks, ATM and debit cards, internet banking credentials, and SIM cards, he allegedly couriered the material to contacts in Haryana for use in committing cybercrime offences.

The Original Case That Led to the Arrests

The arrests were triggered by a complaint in which the accused allegedly defrauded a victim on the pretext of purchasing an old one-rupee currency note. The victim was promised ₹45 lakh for the antique coin but was instead cheated out of ₹7,93,351 through a fake old-currency scam operated via Facebook.

Based on the complaint, a case was registered under Sections 66C and 66D of the IT Act, as well as Sections 318(4), 319(2), 336(3), and 340(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). During interrogation, both accused confessed to their involvement, police said.

Anil's Role and Commission Structure

The second accused, Mudale Anil, played a more limited but direct role — he allegedly opened three savings bank accounts across different banks in return for commissions from Ramesh and handed over the associated credentials. The arrangement illustrates a layered recruitment model common to mule-account networks, where frontline recruiters draw in lower-tier participants who may not fully grasp the scale of the fraud operation they are enabling.

Scale and Broader Context

The suspected total fraud volume of ₹60–70 crore across 450 cases nationally underscores the outsized damage even a modest mule-account pipeline can cause. This is not an isolated pattern: law enforcement agencies across India have noted a sharp rise in mule-account-linked cybercrime, where fraudsters outsource their financial infrastructure to recruits drawn from economically vulnerable groups. Notably, the routing of physical credentials via courier to Haryana — a state that has featured prominently in cybercrime investigations — points to organised interstate networks rather than opportunistic local crime.

Both accused remain in custody; the investigation continues with police working to identify and apprehend the absconding co-accused and trace the Haryana-based recipients of the couriered credentials.