Berhampur: Police have registered cases against 11 people in Gajapati district for allegedly having mule bank accounts in their names and have frozen funds of over Rs 4.15 lakh. “We have identified 49 mule accounts under five police station limits. Cases have been registered against 11 of the account holders,” said Jatindra Kumar Panda, SP (Berhampur). “Inquiry is going on with respect to the other accounts and necessary action would be initiated against the holders,” he said. The mule account holders were identified during a drive launched from Feb 13, police said. Police said they will move different banks to obtain KYC and other details of the account holders for investigation. Action would be initiated against account holders and conspirators who opened the accounts, they said. “We would write to the banks to freeze accounts involved in cyber fraud transactions,” the SP said. The total amount in the mule bank accounts is being calculated, police said. In several cases, fraudsters opened accounts without the knowledge of persons to transfer or launder the proceeds of cybercrimes. In some others, account holders allowed the use of their accounts for commission, police said. In Dec last year, Paralakhemundi police had identified 23 mule accounts and had frozen around Rs 3.80 lakh. The SP advised people not to respond to unidentified callers who seek KYC and account details.
