New Delhi [India], January 18 (ANI): Delhi Police have successfully busted an inter-state investment fraud syndicate, resulting in the arrest of eight accused across multiple states, an official release stated. The operation was led by the Cyber Police Station, South West District, New Delhi.

The syndicate allegedly channelled cheated funds to foreign handlers operating from Cambodia using Indian mule accounts on a commission basis. During the investigation, police recovered ten high-tech mobile phones containing details of multiple mule accounts, as well as 13 SIM cards used to operate these accounts.

On November 7, 2025, a case was registered under relevant sections of the BNS at PS Cyber/SWD on the complaint of a 42-year-old resident of Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, who alleged that she was cheated of Rs 15.58 lakh on the pretext of investment. According to the release, the complainant received WhatsApp messages offering expert guidance in stock trading and was induced by false assurances of guaranteed returns. Manipulated by these fake claims, she transferred the amount to the alleged fraudsters.

According to an official release, the arrested individuals include Vanapatla Sunil (43), Sakinala Shankar (61), Manoj Yadav (38), Sandeep Singh @ Lankesh (30), Aditya Pratap Singh (23), Rahul (30), Sheru (38) and Sompal (34).

Technical analysis led to the identification of Sunil Vanapatla from Telangana, who supplied mule bank accounts on commission. He was arrested after raids in Telangana. On sustained interrogation, he disclosed opening a fake firm in Keesara (Telangana) and arranging a current account in AU Small Finance Bank for cyber fraud.

His associate Shankar was arrested from Hyderabad, who revealed that he had supplied the same account to Manoj, who had tested the account in Lucknow. Following raids in UP, Manoj was arrested from Sant Kabir Nagar, who disclosed further supply of accounts to Sandeep Singh, who managed account operations in Lucknow, a release said.

Further raids led to the arrest of Sandeep Singh from Banaras, who disclosed handing over access to Aditya Pratap Singh. Based on technical surveillance, Aditya Pratap Singh was arrested in Kota (Rajasthan), who arranged mule accounts across India and supplied them to foreign handlers via Telegram. The cheated money was then diverted into Axis Bank & SBI accounts of Sompal and Rahul, respectively. Sompal was arrested from Bareilly and Sheru from Paharganj (Delhi).

Sompal from Bareilly, UP, is an MBA graduate and was running a software company. After the business went non-operational, he supplied his corporate account to cyber fraudsters for bulk transactions, leading to 51 NCRP complaints linked to the account.

As per a release, ten mobile phones along with 13 SIM cards used for operating mule accounts, transferring funds, and communication were recovered. It was also revealed that WhatsApp numbers used to lure victims were being operated from Cambodia, while the Indian accused facilitated mule accounts to park and route fraud money, a release further read. (ANI)