Cyber fraud: No regular bail for ‘mule account’ holder, rules Chandigarh court

Additional sessions judge Harinder Sidhu observed that the investigation had traced multiple fraudulent transactions to a bank account in his name

A local court on Monday dismissed the regular bail plea of a man whose bank account was used as a “mule account” to receive and withdraw proceeds of cyber frauds involving fake investment schemes, part-time job scams and digital arrest frauds targeting victims across India.

The case originated after the Chandigarh cyber crime police, acting on inputs from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), analysed complaints registered on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. (HT File)

Additional sessions judge Harinder Sidhu observed that the investigation had traced multiple fraudulent transactions to a bank account in his name. The case originated after the Chandigarh cyber crime police, acting on inputs from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), analysed complaints registered on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP - 14C) and identified several bank accounts allegedly operating as “mule accounts”.

During the investigation, an IndusInd Bank account held in the name of Bheem Saroj was found to have received ₹50,000, ₹4.5 lakh and ₹1 lakh in connection with cyber fraud complaints registered on the NCRP portal. The prosecution alleged that during interrogation, Saroj disclosed that he was working as a peon in ICICI Bank and that the IndusInd Bank account had been opened by his acquaintance, Salman Ansari, in exchange for monetary consideration. Police subsequently arrested Ansari and recovered Saroj’s cheque book, PAN card and several company stamps allegedly used for opening current accounts.

The order further records that Ansari told investigators that he had handed over the bank account to another person, identified as Dharambir Kalia, whose whereabouts were not known.

Saroj contended that he had been falsely implicated and argued that he was entitled to parity with Ansari, who had earlier been granted bail. Rejecting the plea, the court held that Saroj could not claim parity with the co-accused, observing that while Ansari was alleged to have facilitated the opening of the account, the allegations against Saroj were that his account received the alleged fraud proceeds, which were subsequently withdrawn.

Saroj and Ansari were arrested in May 2026 under Operation Mule Hunt, a drive targeting the misuse of bank accounts for cyber frauds.