Hyderabad, India, May 1, 2026 – Cyberabad police have arrested seven officials from multiple Indian banks for allegedly colluding with cyber fraudsters to open mule accounts, bypassing mandatory know-your-customer checks and pocketing commissions in return.

The arrests, announced late on April 30 under “Operation Crackdown”, targeted employees and field officers accused of enabling large-scale cyber fraud by illegally opening current accounts that were later used to launder proceeds of online scams.

Names of Bank Officials Arrested & case

The seven officials were arrested across five separate cases:

• Case 792/2026: Anusha, 30, assistant manager at Indian Bank, Hyderabad; and Mudavath Dinesh Chowhan, 34, branch manager at Indian Bank’s Kukatpally branch, Hyderabad.
• Case 824/2026: Nadeesh Sambar, 32, former manager at Bank of Maharashtra’s Pragathi Nagar branch, Hyderabad.
• Case 755/2026: Renikunta Mahesh, 37, former field officer for Bandhan Bank, Hyderabad.
• Case 820/2026: Reddy Harish, field officer at IndusInd Bank’s JNTU branch, Hyderabad; and N. Ravi, bank sales manager at the same branch.
• Case 396/2026: Gonela Sai Venkat, 29, assistant bank manager, Hyderabad.

Involvement

The accused bank officials and field staff were found to be actively facilitating the opening of bank accounts for cyber fraudsters, knowingly ignoring KYC norms and verification procedures.

In some instances, field verification was conducted only after receiving illegal commissions, thereby enabling fraudulent transactions.

It was found that unusually high-value transactions were conducted through these accounts, far exceeding normal banking activity.

Despite clear indicators of suspicious transactions, the accused failed to initiate mandatory safeguards, reporting mechanisms, and preventive actions as required under banking regulations and anti-money laundering (AML) guidelines.

Need of the hour

Banks needs to go proactive, rather than reactive. Any time of 'Human Dependancy' in the process of account openings, especially for current accounts - needs to be cross verified by use of Technology. All departments in Banking sphere - right from Current account, saving account, digital banking, transaction monitoring, AML etc. need to work in synchronomization to counter the nation wide mule network. A thorough audit of all branches where maximum mule accounts are opened can bring light to matter's gravity

Law Enforcement Agencies should continue such coordinated operations to weed out moles from the critical banking system.