Four arrested in TN for cyber fraud, duped victim of Rs 81.7 lakh

Chennai, May 12
The Cyber Crime wing of the Tamil Nadu Police has arrested four individuals, including a woman from Pollachi, for allegedly opening mule bank accounts to assist a cyber fraud network operating out of North India.

The arrests were made on Sunday following a detailed investigation into a digital arrest scam.

According to police, over 350 complaints related to digital arrest scams have been registered on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) in 2025 so far.

In the current case, a complaint from a resident of the Vellore district led to the breakthrough. The victim was conned into transferring Rs 81.7 lakh by fraudsters posing as officials from the Bengaluru police.

They falsely accused the victim of involvement in a human trafficking and overseas job racket, coercing him to part with the money under the guise of verification.

The police traced the transaction trail to a bank account in the name of K. Shobana from Pollachi, Coimbatore district.

Upon interrogation, Shobana revealed that she had opened the account on the instructions of her brother, M. Suresh, who promised her a commission by claiming it would be used for an online gaming business.

Suresh then led investigators to his associate, S. Senthil Kumar, a cattle feed merchant from Coimbatore, who managed the fraudulent accounts.

Further inquiry uncovered the involvement of Shobana’s husband, S. Karthik Raja, who had been approached by a man named Piyush, introduced through Suresh, as part of the online gaming operation.

Piyush offered a 2 per cent commission on profits and asked Karthik to open an account, enable net banking, and hand over the credentials. Due to Karthik’s physical disability, his elder brother, Prabhu -- a truck driver -- travelled to Lucknow and delivered the banking kit to Piyush.

Following this, Rs 12 lakh was deposited into Shobana’s account on January 2 and 3. The police have arrested and remanded K. Shobana, M. Suresh, S. Senthil Kumar, and S. Karthik Raja to judicial custody.

Investigations are ongoing to trace others involved in the scam.