Telangana Cyber Security Bureau arrests 21 cybercriminals in statewide operation
Dec 23, 2024
Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], December 24 : The Telangana State Cyber Security Bureau (TGCSB) conducted a special operation across the state, and arrested 21 cyber offenders, including 8 agents, from various locations. The operation also led to the seizure of 20 mobile phones, 15 SIM cards, 4 bank account passbooks, and 5 debit cards, officials said on Monday.
According to Shikha Goel, Director of TGCSB Hyderabad, the Cyber Security Bureau in its bid for zero tolerance of cybercrimes, conducted a crackdown on cybercriminals in the last 48 hours and has arrested 21 criminals.
"These were the people who were involved in withdrawing money from the various bank accounts and transferring it abroad through cryptocurrency. These accused are involved in. crimes in and across the country. They also have a large number of criminal networks with links with many criminals across this country, and we have also established that this money is going abroad. We have details of certain crypto wallets and we are trying to work to get the next link and break this," he said.
TGCSB Operations and Technical teams, after carrying out a detailed technical analysis of Cybercrime & Criminal data and thorough field verifications, conducted a special operation in Hyderabad, Cyberabad, Rachakonda, Karimnagar, Jagatiyal and arrested 21 Cyber Criminals who are involved in 25 Cybercrime Cases in Telangana and 73 cases PAN India under various MOs i.e, Business Investments, Part-time jobs, Digital Arrests, KYC frauds, and Matrimonial Frauds. They have criminal links with 714 cybercrime suspects across the country.
Out of the arrested, 13 were involved in using their bank accounts to withdraw the proceeds of Cybercrimes through cheques and handing them over to next-level agents. The total amount withdrawn by them was 8.2 Crores. The remaining, 8 accused are the next-level agents who were collecting the withdrawn money and transferring the same to their counterparts operating from foreign countries through cryptocurrency. These agents have criminal links with 325 Cyber Crime hotspot suspects across the country.
"Some of these criminals operating from other countries have been identified. Also, some of these Crypto wallets (5 Till now) have been identified and we will be investigating to unravel the money flow," she further said.
The arrested individuals were handed over to the concerned police units for further investigation and legal proceedings. Under the direct command of the Director TGCSB, Shikha Goel, IPS, DGP the operation was led by SV Hari Krishna and KV Surya Prakash, DSPs TGCSB HQ and supervised by Devender Singh, SP Cybercrime Operations.
The Director commended her teams involved in the operations. Inspectors Ashish Reddy, Sravan Kumar, Suneel, Laxminarayana, Ravi, Krishna Murthy, Mooqued Pasha, Sinu and Kranthi for their dedication and precision in planning, monitoring, and executing the operation.
