Rajasthan Police bust Rs 5.30 crore WhatsApp impersonation scam, 17 arrested across five districts
Cyber gang posed as Galaxy Mining chairman to dupe accountant; money laundered via bank mules and USDT crypto.
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Cyber gang posed as Galaxy Mining chairman to dupe accountant
Jaipur: Cyber Crime Police Station Jaipur has arrested 17 members of an inter-state cyber fraud gang accused of defrauding the accountant of Galaxy Mining Company of Rs 5.30 crore by impersonating the firm’s chairman on WhatsApp. The arrests were made through coordinated operations across Kota, Pali, Banswara, Jodhpur and Barmer districts.
The complaint was filed on April 24, 2026 with cyber helpline 1930. Complainant Deependra Singh, an accountant at Galaxy Mining, told police he received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number bearing the photo and name of the company’s owner, with instructions to make immediate payments to two specified bank accounts. Trusting the instruction, he transferred Rs 5.30 crore before realising it was a scam.
Cyber Crime Headquarters Deputy Inspector General Shantanu Kumar Singh said that under the supervision of Superintendent of Police (Cyber Crime) Sumit Mehrda, special teams carried out technical analysis of the bank accounts used in the scam. The investigation found that the money was rotated through multiple accounts before being withdrawn in cash and laundered via USDT cryptocurrency and hawala channels.
From Kota, police arrested Sohel Khan, Mohammed Rashid, Sameer, Tohid Mohammed and Naveen Singh Chouhan. From Banswara, Avinash Jain, Praveen Rawal, Amit Rawal, Bhavya Giri and Mukesh Chouhan were taken into custody. Jodhpur arrests included Ghanshyam Dhatarwal, Rahul alias RDX and Kamlesh. From Pali, Dipendra Singh, Virendra and Harish were arrested, while Sadram was held in Barmer.
Investigators said the accused included a law student, salon workers and an auto-parts dealer, who allegedly met at tea stalls to collect and distribute commission money so as not to attract attention. Commissions ranged from Rs 3,000 to Rs 50,000 per bank account, depending on the role.
According to police, Tohid Mohammed — a Gujarat native pursuing law in Kota — allegedly opened bank accounts in the names of hair-salon employees and used them to channel the defrauded amount, earning Rs 15,000 in commission. Auto-parts shop operator Naveen Singh Chouhan is accused of buying USDT through the Angelx app to obscure the money trail, allegedly earning Rs 50,000 for every Rs 5 lakh routed. In Banswara, e-Mitra operator Amit Rawal allegedly supplied bank accounts of his wife and relatives to the gang at Rs 5,000 per account.
The operation was led on the ground by Deputy Superintendent of Police Sugan Singh, in-charge of the Cyber Crime Police Station Jaipur. The Cyber Crime Branch has appealed to the public not to transfer large sums on the basis of any WhatsApp message, call or financial instruction without verifying its authenticity, and to report cyber fraud immediately on helpline 1930 or the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal.
