A seven-day statewide crackdown turned scattered cybercrime complaints into a mapped financial network — 773 accused, one dismantled mule-account economy, and a test of whether the momentum holds.

How the Operation Came Together

The campaign was launched under Director General of Police Rajeev Krishna, framed as a seven-day statewide push to intensify action against cyber criminals, strengthen cyber intelligence networks, improve investigations, and speed up financial relief for victims. The drive began on July 6, 2026.

The strategy took shape at a review meeting bringing together the DGP for Cyber Crime, the DIG for Cyber Crime, and senior officers from every commissionerate and district in the state, alongside cyber crime nodal officers and cyber cell personnel. DGP Krishna described cybercrime control as one of ten key focus areas since he took charge, tying the operation to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s push for stricter, result-oriented action against cyber criminals.

The Numbers Behind the Headline

The ₹1,158-crore figure and 773 arrests are the culmination of a longer-running effort, not a single raid. Between April 2025 and June 2026, UP Police had already blocked over 2.94 lakh suspicious mobile numbers and 1.81 lakh mobile devices (IMEIs) linked to fraud, while placing roughly ₹530 crore under lien or hold.2,94,024 suspicious mobile numbers blocked (Apr 2025–Jun 2026)1,81,405 fraud-linked IMEIs blocked₹530 Cr placed under lien / hold prior to Cy-Vajra

Cy-Vajra was built to accelerate that baseline with a concentrated, statewide push — targeting fraudster identification, freezing illicit transactions, blocking suspicious digital assets, and raising public awareness, all in a compressed seven-day window.

Case Study: The Gonda Mule Account Racket

One clear illustration of how the operation worked on the ground came from Gonda district. Police there dismantled an operation built around more than 20 fabricated and mule bank accounts, arresting five people — including a former BJP OBC Morcha office-bearer — with suspicious transactions exceeding ₹21 crore. About ₹3.20 crore was frozen as part of the probe.

Modus OperandiThe syndicate lured financially vulnerable people with fake job offers at a solar energy firm, using the pretext to secure GST registrations. Instead of genuine salary accounts, operators opened current accounts in victims’ names while keeping control of their chequebooks, debit cards, and internet banking access — turning ordinary people into unwitting mules.

Those accounts weren’t tied to one type of scam. Investigators found they had processed money from investment fraud schemes, digital extortion, and sextortion, with 43 related complaints logged on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal across multiple states. Raids recovered six mobile devices, 15 Aadhaar cards, ten SIM cards, eight official stamps, two two-wheelers, and paperwork tied to  shell companies.

Notably, the entire network came to light because two victims filed complaints — investigators reconstructed the wider racket by following bank transaction records back through the system.

Why This Matters Beyond UP

Cy-Vajra isn’t happening in isolation. Delhi Police’s Operation CyHawk and its later editions have posted comparably large numbers in recent months, including hundreds of arrests and hundreds of crores in traced fraud in a single sweep. Together, these operations suggest a shift in approach — from complaint-by-complaint firefighting toward systematically mapping the mule-account networks and shell companies that let scam proceeds move and disappear.

The Gonda model helps explain how totals like ₹1,158 crore accumulate so fast: a single mule network can simultaneously launder proceeds from investment scams, extortion, and sextortion at once, meaning one dismantled racket can sever ties running through dozens of unrelated complaints across states.

The Road Ahead

Large numbers make for strong headlines, but the harder test is what follows: how much of the ₹1,158.70 crore is actually recovered for victims, whether 773 arrests lead to convictions, and whether the numbers, IMEIs, and shell companies disrupted this week stay disrupted. Cyber fraud networks in India have shown a persistent ability to rebuild — new SIM cards, new mule accounts, new fronts — often faster than enforcement can track.

What Cy-Vajra does signal is a change in posture: treating cybercrime as organised, cross-border financial crime rather than a series of unconnected complaints. Whether that posture holds beyond a seven-day sprint will determine if it becomes a template other states adopt, or one strong week in a longer fight.