Wayanad Cyber Police have arrested a 26-year-old man for siphoning off ₹1,55,618 from a woman.
The accused, Vishnu S, a native of Chundel near Kalpetta, was arrested on Friday. Vishnu allegedly scammed a native of Greater Noida, Ankitha Sharma, by offering an online part-time job. Ankitha transferred the amount into Vishnu’s account in September 2025.

According to the Cyber Police, a fraud racket had been using Vishnu’s State Bank of India account at the Chundel branch for illicit transactions. Vishnu allegedly withdrew the money deposited in the account and handed it over to members of the racket.

Investigators believe Ajmal, another native of Wayanad, acted as the middleman in the operation, while one Riyas from Kozhikode is suspected to be the kingpin who collected the money from Vishnu.

The case came to light when DySP Praveen Kumar K G, who was investigating a suspected hawala theft involving four Vythiri police personnel, found that the seized cash was actually linked to a mule-account racket. Based on his findings, the Wayanad Cyber Wing registered a separate case under Inspector Shaju Joseph.

In the hawala case, the department had suspended four Vythiri officers — SHO Anilkumar C R, Additional Sub Inspector Bineesh, and Senior Civil Police Officers Abdul Shukkoor and Abdul Majeed — after they allegedly concealed the seizure of ₹3.37 lakh on September 15, assaulted the individuals involved, and threatened them. They were later arrested and remanded.

Police suspect that Vishnu alerted the Vythiri police about the hawala money after he handed it over to the Kozhikode group. When the youths from Kozhikode approached the police, claiming they had been beaten and robbed by the Vythiri team, Wayanad SP Taposh Basumatary took over the investigation and deployed a special team.

Vishnu was at large for weeks before police finally traced his hideout. He was produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court here on Saturday and remanded in judicial custody. Further investigation is currently underway.