Kanpur: The probe into the Rs 250-crore cyber fraud case led Barra police to arrest Mukesh Jha, a Small Finance Bank relationship manager, on Thursday. According to police, Jha facilitated the opening of bank accounts for bogus firms used by cyber fraudsters and helped process transactions worth crores of rupees, while bank employees allegedly earned commissions ranging from 5% to 10%.Jha was produced before a court, which remanded him to judicial custody. Following his arrest, police have intensified the probe into the possible involvement of other bank employees in the cyber fraud network.Investigation has revealed that these bank accounts were used to move money linked to cyber fraud, digital arrest scams and GST evasion.According to police, the gang obtained Aadhaar cards, PAN cards and other documents of common people by deceiving or luring them. These documents were allegedly used to create fake, or bogus, firms.After this, police said accounts were opened at the Small Finance Bank at Gumti No. 5 in the names of Vimlesh General Store, Arjun Namkeen Bhandar and Raj Contractors, among several firms. Jha has emerged in facilitating the opening of these accounts.Investigation also revealed that the transaction limits of these accounts were increased to crores of rupees. Thereafter, money collected through digital arrest scams, investment fraud and other cyber crimes was allegedly transferred into these accounts.According to police, large transactions in the accounts were also monitored by bank employees. If a cyber complaint surfaced regarding any account, attempts were allegedly made to withdraw the money through other means so that the defrauded amount could be saved from being put on hold or frozen.Police found that bank employees were allegedly working in coordination with the cyber fraud network. It is alleged that bank employees received commissions in exchange for facilitating transactions worth crores of rupees through fake accounts. Mukesh Jha is also accused of taking a commission of 5% to 10%.Police claim to have gathered sufficient evidence against Jha. According to police, 10 accused have been arrested so far. Earlier, police had arrested several accused, including Rajveer Singh, Shivam Sinha, scrap trader Anshit Goyal and driver Satish Pandey. The role of bank employees has also come under the scanner.Based on the questioning of the arrested accused and examination of their mobile phones and other documents, links in the cyber fraud network are being traced and connected.During the investigation, the name of Abhay Shukla alias Sultan Mirza, originally from Bihar and a resident of Govind Nagar in Kanpur, allegedly emerged as the kingpin of the cyber fraud network. According to police, following the arrests of other accused, he first fled to Nepal and later moved to Dubai. During the examination of the mobile phones of the jailed accused, police also found a video linked to Sultan. Investigators are now probing the role of other individuals connected to the network and the alleged kingpin based abroad.
