Pune Police Bust Mule-Account Racket Linked to Rs 1.80 Crore Cyber Fraud; Five Arrested
Reported by Mubarak Ansari
Pune, 4th October 2026: Wanavdi police have arrested five men in connection with an alleged mule-bank-account racket linked to online fraud involving ₹1.80 crore and 19 victims across India.
The accused have been identified as Shravan Rajendra Ankushe (25), Hariom Hariram Sahu (24), Saud Shaikh (23), Sahil Shaikh (25) and Talib Nurmohammed Shaikh (25). Police said the five were arrested on August 28, 2026.
The investigation began after Maharashtra Cyber, Mumbai, shared information about money trails, suspected mule accounts and cheque and ATM withdrawals associated with fraud complaints.
According to Senior Police Inspector Pandit Rejitwad, Ankushe was the alleged mastermind and tasked Sahu with arranging bank accounts to facilitate fraudulent transactions. Sahu allegedly received ₹3,000 as commission for each account, while account holders were promised ₹5,000 for opening accounts in their names and allowing the group to use them.
Police alleged that Sahu approached acquaintances, including Saud, Sahil and Talib, and persuaded them to open accounts at different banks using their own know-your-customer documents. These accounts were subsequently handed over to Ankushe and allegedly used for online fraud.
Investigators linked the accounts to complaints involving 19 people across the country who were allegedly cheated of a combined ₹1,80,15,795.
A case has been registered at Wanavdi police station under Sections 112(2), 61(2), 318(4) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Section 66D of the Information Technology Act.
The operation was carried out under the guidance of Additional Commissioner of Police (East Region) Manoj Patil and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 5) Rajlaxmi Shivankar. Assistant Commissioner of Police Ramdas Ingawale, Senior Police Inspector Pandit Rejitwad and Crime Inspector Kailas Daberav supervised the police team.
The investigating team included Police Sub-Inspectors Shekhar Mokate and Samadhan Ugale, along with police personnel Ganesh Agam, Amol Pilane, Pramod Tilekar, Vinod Shivale, Daya Shegar, Ashish Kamble, Deepak Kshirsagar, Vitthal Chormale, Balaji Waghmare, Abhi Chavan, Gopal Madane, Vishnu Sutar, Chaitrali Yadav and Rupali Diwate.
