Kothagudem police arrest 13 persons involved in cybercrimes

Kothagudem police arrested 13 persons, including a Mee-Seva operator, for operating a cybercrime racket using fake bank accounts. The accused carried out transactions worth Rs 8.5 crore in 12 months. Police seized mobile phones and urged victims to call 1930

Kothagudem: The district cybercrime and Tekulapally police arrested 13 persons for their involvement in cybercrimes.

Superintendent of Police B Rohith Raju told the media on Monday that based on complaints received by the District Cyber Security Bureau through the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) two days ago, the accused were arrested on Sunday.

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The main accused, Boda Sridhar, who runs a Mee-Seva Kendra at Tekulapally, was contacted by cybercriminals through the Telegram app. They offered him a commission for transferring money to others through bank accounts.

Sridhar, along with 12 others from Tekulapally mandal, opened 60 current accounts in banks using fake documents and carried out cybercrimes by transferring money to various accounts. In the past 12 months, they conducted transactions worth Rs 8.5 crore.

The police seized 12 mobile phones and a bank passbook from the accused. A case has been registered against them. As many as 100 complaints from across the country were lodged against the bank accounts they operated, the SP said.

The accused—Boda Rajesh, Boda Rajanna, Banoth Jagadeesh, Tejavath Naresh, Polepongu Pavan Kalyan, Bhukya Veranna, Jatoth Naresh, Boda Jampanna, Boda Rajaram, Maloth Praveen, Bhukya Praveen, and Urimalla Bharath Krishna—were sent to judicial remand along with the main accused.

The SP appreciated Tekulapally CI B Satyanarayana, SI A Rajender, Cybercrime CI Jitender, and their staff for nabbing the accused. He advised that if anyone loses money due to cybercrime, they should immediately call 1930 and register a complaint, as there is a chance of recovering the lost money.