The Delhi Police arrested a deputy manager of a cooperative bank for allegedly facilitating the opening and operation of a mule bank account linked to 159 cyber fraud complaints reported from across the country, police said on Wednesday.
According to the police, the suspicious account, maintained with the National Urban Cooperative Bank’s New Kondli branch, was identified during the scrutiny of complaints received through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP).
Investigators found that the account had allegedly been used to receive and transfer proceeds of cyber frauds, with transactions amounting to approximately Rs 67.92 crore routed through it. Based on preliminary findings, an FIR was registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), following which a dedicated team from the Cyber Police Station, East District, launched an investigation.
The account was maintained in the name of Mahakal Enterprises and was purportedly opened using the identity of one Shailendra Kumar Yadav. However, during questioning, Yadav allegedly denied opening the account, visiting the bank branch or signing any account opening documents.
The police said verification established that he was not present at the bank during the relevant period and that the signatures on the account opening forms did not match his admitted signatures.
Investigators alleged that Yadav’s identity and credentials had been misused without his knowledge or consent. The probe subsequently focused on the officials responsible for processing and approving the account.
The police identified the accused as Pabitra Kumar Biswal (42), deputy manager at National Urban Cooperative Bank and a resident of Janta Flats, Mayur Vihar Phase-III in Delhi.
During interrogation, he allegedly admitted that he had neither physically verified the firm nor visited the address mentioned in the account opening documents.
According to the investigation, the account was opened without proper verification of the applicant and without compliance with prescribed Know Your Customer (KYC) norms, customer due diligence requirements and mandatory verification procedures. Documentary evidence collected during the probe allegedly corroborated these findings.
The police said the unverified account was later used to route proceeds of cyber frauds on a massive scale, with banking analysis showing credits and transfers of around Rs 67.92 crore through the account. The authorities alleged that mandatory safeguards intended to prevent misuse of the banking system were ignored, thereby facilitating the operation of the mule account.
Based on the evidence collected, Biswal was arrested in the case. Two mobile phones were recovered from his possession.
Further investigation is underway to identify additional beneficiaries, facilitators, bank accounts and other persons allegedly connected to the larger cyber fraud network.
