Kasaragod: Kasaragod police raided the house of Yusuf Moosa (48) at Kaikamba near Uppala in Mangalpady panchayat, after his SBI account was flagged on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP). Police found that ₹6.11 lakh had been credited to the account on February 24, followed by another ₹3 lakh on March 11, taking the total to ₹9.11 lakh.

Moosa told the police that the money was from the sale of mobile phones but could not produce documents to substantiate the claim.

In Nileshwar, Muhammad Kinan Aboobacker (23) of Orcha in Thaikkadappuram came under investigation after ₹2 lakh was credited to his account on July 20. Police found that he had opened the account at the request of his friend Shafeer and handed over the passbook, cheque book and ATM card to him. Kinan reportedly received ₹5,000 as commission in return and told police that he did not have access to the account.

Police suspect that the two accounts were used to route money linked to cyber fraud. The cases involving Moosa and Kinan are part of a wider crackdown by Kasaragod police on mule accounts -- bank accounts allegedly made available to cyber-fraud operato₹to receive and transfer money.

As part of Operation Cy-Hunt, a statewide Kerala Police operation against organised cyber-financial fraud, police have registered 26 cases across Kasaragod district against people suspected of facilitating the movement of fraud money through their accounts.

Police officers said the operation is focused on people who allow others to use their bank accounts in return for relatively small commissions. These accounts often become dead-ends for cybercrime investigators because the account holders receive paltry amounts as rent.

But in a bid to deter people from renting out bank accounts, police teams are going after them. They searched the homes and establishments of those booked and seized bank records, passbooks, cheque books, ATM cards and mobile phones. The financial transactions and digital evidence are being examined with the assistance of cyber experts.

According to police officers, some people open or maintain bank accounts in their own names and then hand over the banking instruments or access details to others for a fee.

These may include ATM cards, cheque books and internet banking usernames and passwords. Once access is handed over, the account can be used to receive and transfer money while the account holder receives only the agreed commission.

The transactions detected in the two Kasaragod cases show the disparity between the money moving through an account and the amount received by its owner. Kinan allegedly received ₹5,000 while ₹2 lakh was credited to his account. In Moosa's case, police detected transactions totalling ₹9.10 lakh.

Police officers said substantial sums, including money suspected to have originated abroad, have also been traced through some of the accounts under investigation. The source and destination of the funds are being examined.

Police officers said mule accounts provide cyber-fraud operato₹with accounts through which money obtained from victims can be received and moved before being transferred to other accounts. Using accounts held in other people's names can create several layers between the fraudsters and the money, making the trail more difficult to follow, investigators said.

26 cases registered across Kasaragod
Melparamba police station has registered six cases, the highest in the district, followed by Kasaragod and Vidyanagar with five each and Hosdurg with four.
Cases have also been registered at Manjeshwar, Bedakam, Chandera, Nileshwar, Vellarikundu and Bekal police stations.

Police are examining transactions in the accounts under investigation to identify the people who sent and received the money, apart from those who operated the accounts and those who received commissions.