New Delhi, Aug 10 (PTI) A stolen mobile phone belonging to an 88-year-old man has helped the Delhi Police unearth an interstate cyber-fraud syndicate allegedly operating through a three-stage network spread across Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, an officer said on Monday.

Police said they have arrested nine cyber crooks so far.

"The accused allegedly stole mobile phones, used linked bank accounts to siphon money from victims and operated a call-centre-like setup in Jaipur to carry out banking transactions," the senior police officer said.

The case came to light after the senior citizen, a resident of West Patel Nagar, reported that his mobile phone was stolen on May 19. Two days later, after getting his SIM card reissued, he received alerts that an amount of Rs 70,000 has been withdrawn from his bank account through two unauthorised transactions of Rs 25,000 each and one of Rs 20,000.

The victim immediately reported the financial fraud on the National Cyber Crime Helpline, following which an FIR was registered on July 23. "The investigation led police to a sophisticated interstate network with operations in Jaipur, Meerut and Ghaziabad," the officer said.

According to police, the syndicate functioned in multiple stages. Street-level operatives allegedly stole mobile phones, while another group in Meerut and Ghaziabad supplied mule bank accounts, debit cards, POS machines and SIM cards. The third module, operating from Jaipur, allegedly used the stolen phones and banking credentials to access victims' accounts, route money through mule accounts and withdraw or transfer the funds.

Financial transaction mapping and digital surveillance helped police establish that the mule-account supply chain was based in Meerut and Ghaziabad, while the banking transactions were being carried out from Jaipur.

A police team raided a residential premises at Jaipur's Jhotwara and arrested Nikhil Soni (26), the main operator and technical mastermind, along with four associates -- Abishek Kumar Jha, Anand Sah Sonar, Prince Sah Sonar and Bishek Kumar Jha.

"The raid exposed a call-centre-like setup equipped with laptops, tablets, routers, passbooks and diaries containing victim data and transaction details. An amount of Rs 4 lakh in cash was also recovered," the officer said.

Simultaneously, another team conducted raids in Meerut and Ghaziabad, and arrested four alleged mule-account suppliers -- Amar Jatav, Harsh, Mohan and Vashu.

The team seized 52 mobile phones, 70 debit cards, 145 SIM cards, 13 bank passbooks, six POS machines, four laptops, two tablet computers, four high-speed internet routers and Rs 4 lakh in cash from their possession. The mobile phones allegedly contained victim data, banking applications and chats, while the seized diaries contained transaction ledgers and contact details, the officer said.

A forensic examination of the digital devices is underway, police said, adding that they have so far linked the network to 19 complaints registered on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal in different states.

Further financial analysis is being conducted to ascertain the total amount allegedly siphoned off by the syndicate. PTI BM RC