Gujarat CID busts Rs 200 crore cyber crime racket with international links
AHMEDABAD, NOV 3 : In a breakthrough, Gujarat CID (Crime) and the Railways’ Cyber Centre have busted a Rs 200 crore cybercrime racket, stretching from Gujarat to Dubai.
Six accused have been arrested in what officials call one of India’s most organised cyber-fraud syndicates, masterminding scams, converting stolen money into cryptocurrency, and funnelling it abroad through hawala and angadia networks.
The Gujarat CID (Crime) and the Railways’ Cyber Centre of Excellence have dismantled the interstate and international cybercrime syndicate that defrauded victims across India through fake online schemes and digital arrests.
What began as a routine probe into isolated frauds soon unravelled into a vast web of deceit connecting small-town operatives in Gujarat to shadowy handlers in Dubai.
Six accused, Mahesh Solanki and Rupen Bhatiya from Morbi, Rakesh Lania and Rakeshkumar Dekawadiya from Lakhatar in Surendranagar, and Naviya Khambhaliya and Pankit Kanthariya from Surat, have been arrested in the first wave of the operation.
Investigators said the gang was running multiple rackets simultaneously, duping people through fake loan offers, bogus part-time job ads, and high-return investment traps.
When CID teams examined the seized mobile phones, they unearthed details of over 100 bank accounts used to circulate stolen money. Further analysis linked the syndicate to 386 cybercrime cases nationwide, including 29 in Gujarat alone, exposing its massive operational scale.
The money trail, officials said, tells a chilling story of digital laundering. Fraud proceeds were first deposited into fake or “mule” bank accounts, withdrawn in Morbi, and dispatched via the traditional angadia courier network to Surat.
There, the cash was converted into cryptocurrency, mainly USDT (Tether) and was routed to Dubai through crypto wallets and hawala channels. To conceal their criminal base, the accused floated a bogus trading firm under the name of a local unit in the market yard.
Behind this seemingly legitimate front, they opened several mule accounts used for cheque clearances, ATM withdrawals, and online crypto transfers.
A few account holders, unaware of the full scale of operations, received monthly payouts of Rs 25,000, while intermediaries pocketed Rs 650 for every Rs 1 lakh laundered.
ASP Sanjaykumar Keshwala told the media that the fake firm was central to their deception: “They registered a trading unit only to open mule bank accounts. The stolen money was funnelled through these accounts, converted into cash or cryptocurrency, and transferred to Dubai-based handlers.”
He said Keshwala confirmed that the probe now focuses on the syndicate’s global links.
“This case clearly involves cryptocurrency transactions with possible foreign masterminds. We are tracing the Dubai connection and tracking every digital footprint,” he said.
With 12 mobile phones, two SIM cards, and extensive financial data already in CID custody, investigators believe this is just the tip of the iceberg.
Further arrests are expected as Gujarat’s cyber sleuths follow the digital trail.
-PTI
