Ahmedabad: Gujarat police has unearthed cyber frauds worth Rs 2,289 crore and arrested 638 persons as part of its statewide crackdown on online criminals under ‘Operation Mule Account 1.0’ launched in 2025, officials said on Monday.
A mule account is a bank account that is used by cyber criminals to receive, transfer and launder money obtained through fraud.
As many as 913 mule accounts were unearthed in the operation carried out by Gandhinagar-based Cyber Centre of Excellence (CCOE), a police release said.
“The operation, involving all top police officials and being monitored on a daily basis, resulted in 565 FIRs being registered against 638 accused. Economic fraud valued at Rs 2,289 crore was unearthed, with a total 4,052 crimes identified across the country, including 491 in Gujarat,” the CCOE said.
Due to the operation, there has been a massive drop in withdrawals of money through cheques and ATM, it said. Monthly cheque withdrawals decreased from Rs 126 crore to Rs 25 crore, which shows a reduction of 80%, it said.
“Also, there was a 30% reduction in the number of first-layer mule accounts, i.e. Accounts where money is deposited first, from August to December 2025, and 66% reduction in ATM withdrawals from September to December 2025,” the CCOE said.
In order to make this operation more efficient and proactive, a risk scoring system is being implemented by Indian Digital Payment Intelligence Corporation (IDPIC) under guidelines of the Reserve Bank of India using artificial intelligence technology, it pointed out. Under this system, each transaction will be classified as low risk, medium risk and high risk so that suspicious accounts can be identified, and, based on this score, various banks can take necessary action, it said.
“IDPIC has been given the responsibility as the nodal agency for it, and a registry called mulehunter. AI has also been created to share information about suspicious accounts among various banks,” it said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has continuously expressed concern about the increasing incidents of cybercrime and has asked citizens to perform digital procedures with more awareness without fear against various cybercrimes, including digital arrest.
“The Union government under PM Modi is in action mode against cybercrime, and this campaign has been strengthened in Gujarat under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel,” it said.
The digital sector has witnessed unprecedented revolution over the last 11 years under the Modi government, with the number of internet users in India crossing 100 crore from 25 crore during this period. ‘BharatNet’ project has connected more than two lakh gram panchayats, from only 546 some 11 years ago, and there has been a significant increase in UPI transactions, it said.
According to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, cyber security is no longer just an issue of economic security; now it has also been linked to national security. Therefore, security should be strengthened by combining economic, social, administrative and national security dimensions, stated the release.
