Jammu and Kashmir Police’s Counter Intelligence Kashmir (CIK) on Wednesday launched a major crackdown on a network of “mule bank accounts” suspected to be used for cyber frauds and terror financing, detaining 22 people during coordinated raids across the Valley, officials said.
The raids were conducted in Srinagar, Budgam, Shopian and Kulgam districts of Kashmir division.
Police said that during preliminary investigation, 22 suspects operating within the Kashmir division were identified.
After obtaining search warrants from the Special NIA Court, Srinagar, the CIK conducted simultaneous searches at 22 locations — 17 in Srinagar, three in Budgam, and one each in Shopian and Kulgam.
The searches led to the seizure of “substantial incriminating material,” including digital devices and financial records that officials said are crucial to the probe.
“So far, 22 individuals have been detained for questioning to establish their precise roles and linkages with cyber frauds, illegal online gaming, betting platforms and suspicious financial transactions,” police said.
Acting on credible and specific intelligence inputs, an FIR under Sections 66 (C) and 66 (D) of the Information Technology Act, 2000; Sections 303, 308, 314, 316 (2), 318 (4), 336 (3), 340 (2) and 61 (2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and Section 13 of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 was registered at Police Station Counter Intelligence Kashmir, unveiling a sophisticated and well-entrenched financial crime syndicate that posed a serious threat to national economic security and digital safety.
Police said investigations so far have exposed a carefully orchestrated conspiracy in which accused persons, in active connivance with local and outside operatives, exploited bank accounts of innocent, vulnerable and economically weak individuals, converting them into “mule accounts”.
These accounts were used as temporary conduits to route massive volumes of illicit money generated from cyber frauds and online scams, banned online gaming and betting platforms, fake investment and trading applications.
“Alarmingly, the illegally generated funds are suspected to have been channelled further into terror financing and other activities prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of the nation,” police said.
A mule account is a bank or digital payment account used by criminals to receive, transfer, and camouflage illegally obtained money. The account holder—known as a money mule—may be complicit, wilfully ignorant, or completely unaware that their account is being misused.
Mule accounts are a critical component of cyber-enabled crimes, facilitating the layering stage of money laundering by distancing the actual criminals from the victim and law-enforcement agencies. Such accounts are widely used in phishing and impersonation scams, online trading and investment frauds, fake loan apps, illegal payment gateways or online gaming and betting frauds.
Police said cyber fraudsters lure victims through calls, messages and online ads by posing as bank officials, police, recruiters or investment advisers, pushing fake shopping, trading, gaming and KYC scams.
Victims are then tricked into transferring money or sharing OTPs and passwords, allowing account takeovers. The money is routed through multiple “mule accounts”, layered across banks and states, pooled in shell firms and finally withdrawn in cash, converted into cryptocurrency or sent abroad.
Investigations show mule accounts are often obtained from students, unemployed youth and daily wage earners recruited with promises of easy commissions.
