Ahmedabad: The Ahmedabad crime branch on Saturday busted a racket involved in creating and operating “mule” bank accounts, allegedly used for online fraud and illegal gambling. One person was arrested from Ellisbridge, while several others suspected to be part of the network are being traced.According to police, the action followed a tip-off that a man was operating a network that lured economically vulnerable people with offers of easy money and persuaded them to open bank accounts. These accounts were then allegedly used for routing funds generated through cyberfraud and online gambling. Acting on the information, a crime branch team conducted a raid near the gate of VS Hospital in Ellisbridge on Saturday and apprehended the suspect, identified as Rehan Bhurani (25), a native of Talaja in Bhavnagar district. Police said that during the search conducted in the presence of witnesses, officers recovered three mobile phones, four cheque books, and two debit cards of different banks.The seized items are collectively valued at around Rs 1.7 lakh. During interrogation, Bhurani allegedly revealed that he and his associates opened multiple savings and current accounts in the names of different individuals, as well as in the names of non-existent firms. The accused allegedly used sim cards linked to the account holders to control these accounts and transfer money received through fraudulent online activities.Police said the group collected bank kits, including cheque books and ATM cards, from account holders and either operated them directly or sent them to other accomplices through courier. Investigators suspect the accounts were used to transfer funds obtained through cyberfraud and online betting before converting them into cash. Crime branch officials said several accomplices based in Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Anand, and Mumbai have been identified, and efforts are underway to trace them.
