Hyderabad, Dec 20: Hyderabad police have arrested two accused, Surampudi Chandrasekhar (31) and Emandi Venkat Naveen (25), in a major cyber fraud case in which a senior citizen lost Rs 59 lakh. The accused, both residents of Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, were arrested for supplying bank accounts used to facilitate the crime.

According to the police, the victim received WhatsApp calls from individuals impersonating police and government officials on December 4. These fraudsters falsely accused him of human trafficking, overseas job fraud, and money laundering, and sent forged arrest warrants to intimidate him. Under continuous threats of arrest, the victim transferred Rs 59,00,300 from his Union Bank of India account between December 4 and 6.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cybercrimes), V. Arvind Babu, revealed that the accused created fear by impersonating officials, using WhatsApp and forged warrants, and forced the victim to transfer money into multiple bank accounts. The money was later converted into cryptocurrency and withdrawn via Binance P2P transactions.

The accused are part of an interstate cyber fraud network, involved in 65 cases nationwide, with a total of Rs 8 crore involved, including five cases in Telangana. Other suspects are absconding, and the arrested accused have been remanded to judicial custody.

Additionally, in a sextortion case, a man lost Rs 3.41 lakh after being coerced into making payments following threats of reputational damage. The police are investigating both cases.