Delhi Police have arrested 57 individuals as part of a large-scale cybercrime crackdown under Operation Cy-Hawk, uncovering a network of scams that allegedly defrauded victims of nearly Rs 77 crore.
According to police, the arrests are linked to at least 30 registered cases in the southwest district alone, while as many as 236 complaints connected to the accused were found on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP). The operation focused on dismantling organised cyber and financial fraud syndicates operating through complex banking and digital channels.
Investigators said the accused were involved in a wide range of scams, including ATM fraud, so-called “digital arrest” scams, fake job offers, digital marketing frauds, cryptocurrency and USDT conversion rackets, mule account networks, and cheque-withdrawal frauds.
The probe began after the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) flagged two suspicious bank accounts suspected of being used to launder scam proceeds. The account holders, Mohammad Salman and Yasmeen, were identified as being linked to six cybercrime complaints and were subsequently arrested.
During questioning, the duo allegedly revealed that they were acting on the instructions of a man named Sahid, who contacted them through social media and promised commissions in exchange for routing illicit funds through their accounts.
Further investigation led police to uncover a larger mule-account operation. One of the accused disclosed that he had been introduced to a handler named Azhan through an associate, Hammad, around five to six months ago. He was allegedly offered a 1 per cent commission on withdrawn amounts for arranging bank accounts.
Police claim the network facilitated the opening of nearly 100 to 150 bank accounts. Two other accused, Mohammad Numan and Naoushad, were arrested and reportedly admitted to opening accounts in return for Rs 10,000 per account.
Based on these disclosures, police tracked down and arrested Azhan, a BTech student, from Zakir Nagar. Investigators allege that Azhan played a key role in converting the defrauded money into cryptocurrency and USDT before transferring it to another accused, Said ul Zafar, who was later arrested from southeast Delhi.
As part of Operation Cy-Hawk, police also busted a loan app fraud and an interstate electricity bill payment scam operating across multiple states.
