Patna — Bihar Police have identified 1,09,475 suspected mule bank accounts across all 38 districts of the state, holding a combined balance of Rs 72.53 crore linked to cyber fraud networks, Inspector General of Police (Cyber Crime and Security Unit) Ranjit Kumar Mishra told a press conference at Sardar Patel Bhavan in Patna on Friday. The police have launched Operation Cyber Prahar 5.0 to act against the accounts, trace the people managing the transactions and dismantle the organised syndicates behind them.

Source: The 420

Mishra explained that mule accounts form a critical part of cybercriminals' financial infrastructure: they are used to receive and route stolen funds through multiple layers to obscure the original source and the true beneficiaries. Acting against the flagged accounts and tracing where the Rs 72.53 crore parked inside them came from is the primary operational focus of Cyber Prahar 5.0. The accounts are suspected accounts identified by investigators; inclusion in the list is not a conviction.

Source: Urban Acres

Patna recorded the highest number of flagged accounts at 14,644, followed by Gaya with 6,172, Muzaffarpur with 4,244, Bhagalpur with 4,197 and Nalanda with 4,146. Significant numbers were also detected in West Champaran (3,945), Siwan (3,859), Vaishali (3,441) and Aurangabad (3,326). Officials said Nawada, Nalanda and Patna remain persistent hotspots for financial cyber fraud, and an additional cyber police station is planned in Patna to expedite investigations.

Source: The 420

During September and October 2026 alone, Bihar registered 47,659 cybercrime complaints out of 5,69,160 reported nationwide, and fraudsters siphoned off roughly Rs 121.26 crore from residents of the state in those two months. Through coordinated intervention with banks, police froze Rs 36.94 crore — 30.46 percent of the defrauded amount, above the national freeze rate of 28.35 percent — and returned Rs 8.04 crore to victims.

Source: Urban Acres

The new drive follows Cyber Prahar 4.0, which uncovered 3,177 mule accounts and led to 15 FIRs, seven arrests and notices to 448 suspects, and Cyber Prahar 4.1, which identified 1,226 more accounts, leading to 17 FIRs and 12 arrests, including six point-of-sale SIM card vendors. Police also blocked 385 SIM cards and 442 mobile phones used in frauds, removed 2,172 objectionable social media posts and shut down 549 accounts. The department has given specialised cybercrime training to 278 personnel, and is running a state-level hackathon with 153 teams, with results scheduled for November 28.

Source: The 420