The Tamil Nadu Cyber Crime Wing has arrested four individuals — including a woman from Pollachi — for allegedly operating mule bank accounts to assist a cyber fraud syndicate linked to North India.
The arrests were made on Sunday following an investigation into a digital arrest scam, a fraudulent scheme where victims are coerced into paying money under the false pretense of legal trouble.
According to police, over 350 complaints of digital arrest scams have been filed on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) in 2025 alone.
The case was cracked after a Vellore resident was conned out of Rs81.7 lakh by scammers pretending to be Bengaluru police officials. The fraudsters falsely accused the victim of being involved in a human trafficking ring and coerced him into transferring the amount for “verification.”
The investigation led officers to a bank account in the name of K. Shobana from Pollachi, Coimbatore. Under questioning, she admitted that she opened the account on instructions from her brother M. Suresh, who promised her a commission, claiming the account would be used for online gaming.
Suresh then led police to his associate, S. Senthil Kumar, a Coimbatore-based cattle feed merchant who was managing several fraudulent accounts. Further probe revealed the involvement of S. Karthik Raja, Shobana’s husband.
Karthik, who is physically disabled, had agreed to open and hand over a bank account to a man named Piyush, introduced via Suresh. To facilitate this, Karthik’s brother Prabhu, a truck driver, traveled to Lucknow and delivered the account details to Piyush.
Police confirmed that Rs12 lakh was deposited into Shobana’s account in early January. All four — K. Shobana, M. Suresh, S. Senthil Kumar, and S. Karthik Raja — have been arrested and remanded to judicial custody.
Authorities are continuing their efforts to trace additional suspects linked to the cyber fraud ring.
