Varanasi: A nationwide cyber fraud network that allegedly routed over Rs 116 crore through 41 bank accounts and generated 143 complaints across the country was busted by the Cyber Crime Cell and Chetganj police on Sunday, leading to the arrest of four accused, including the alleged mastermind.Police said 143 complaints connected to the accounts had been registered nationwide.The arrested accused have been identified as Nitish Kumar Pandey (32), a resident of Rohtas district in Bihar, Dushyant Singh (34), Himanshu Jha (25) and Mohd Rehan.ACP Cyber Crime Vinay Kumar Dwivedi said the gang lured people by promising high profits and commissions in a short period. The accused allegedly opened fake firms and bank accounts in different names and used them to route money obtained through cyber fraud. The money deposited in these accounts was linked to investment fraud, betting apps and other online cyber crimes.The accused were allegedly using a mobile application called XPay App. Through the app, message forwarding was activated on the mobile phones of account holders. As a result, one-time passwords sent by banks were forwarded to the accused, who then transferred the fraud money through multiple bank accounts to make tracing difficult.Police recovered seven mobile phones, including four iPhones and three Android phones, one laptop, 19 cheque books, six passbooks, 40 debit cards, two credit cards, four shopping cards, one Green Remit Card, one gaming card, 48 QR scanners, one driving licence and two vehicles from the accused.Police said they received information that some suspicious persons were present near Vivekanandpuri Colony in the Karaundi area. Acting on the tip-off, a raid was conducted and the four accused were arrested from the spot.A case has been registered against the accused under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at Chetganj police station.Police teams have also been deployed to arrest other accused — Prateek Tiwari alias Bunty, a resident of Samne Ghat in Varanasi, and Romil Verma. Efforts are underway to trace other members of the gang and freeze the money deposited in the linked bank accounts.
