Hyderabad Police bust pan-India cyber fraud syndicate in “Operation Octopus”, 104 arrested

The Hyderabad City Police arrested 104 people across 16 states in a nationwide crackdown on a cyber fraud syndicate, seizing cash and electronic devices in a campaign dubbed “Operation Octopus.”

The operation, led by DCP (Cybercrimes) V Aravind Babu, IPS, targeted organised networks involved in investment scams, trading frauds and so-called “digital arrest” scams. Following an in-depth investigation, police identified 151 bank accounts used to siphon off victims’ money, a police statement said on Tuesday.
As part of the operation, 32 special teams were deployed simultaneously across multiple states over a period of 10 days. Among those arrested were 86 mule account holders, 17 account suppliers/aggregators, and one bank official, a relationship manager of Bandhan Bank, for alleged insider complicity.

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The accused were linked to 1,055 cyber fraud cases registered across the country, involving an estimated fraud amount of Rs 127 crore. During the raids, police seized Rs 36 lakh in cash, along with 204 mobile phones, 141 SIM cards, 152 bank passbooks, 234 debit and credit cards, 26 laptops and other incriminating material.
The operation was carried out under the supervision of Joint Commissioner of Police S M Vijay Kumar and DCP V. Aravind Babu.

Hyderabad Police Commissioner V C Sajjanar, said cybercrime posed a serious threat to society and reiterated the city police’s zero-tolerance policy, adding that investigations were continuing to nab higher-level operators in the syndicate.