Nearly 800 arrests, over 800 fresh FIRs, and more than a thousand crore rupees in traced fraud — Operation Cy-Vajra is shaping up to be one of the largest state-level cybercrime offensives India has seen this year.

Uttar Pradesh Police has wrapped up the first phase of “Cy-Vajra,” a statewide, week-long crackdown on cyber fraud networks, and the numbers coming out of it are striking. Under the direction of Director General of Police Rajeev Krishna, and on instructions from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the operation ran from July 7 to July 13 and resulted in 773 arrests, 865 new FIRs, and the identification of financial links to cyber fraud cases worth more than ₹1,158.70 crore.

₹1,158.7CrCyber fraud connections traced

773Accused arrested

865New FIRs registered

17Illegal call centres acted against

What the Operation Targeted

Cy-Vajra was built around dismantling the infrastructure that keeps cyber fraud running, not just chasing individual scammers after the fact. Over the course of the week, police units across the state moved against illegal call centres, mule bank account networks, and the mobile and device ecosystem that fraud rings rely on to stay anonymous and mobile.

Seventeen unauthorised call centres were acted against during the drive, an important detail given how often these operations turn out to be the engine room behind investment scams, fake loan offers, and impersonation frauds that ultimately get reported as isolated, unconnected complaints.

Building on an Existing Base

The weeklong sprint wasn’t a standalone effort — it built on infrastructure UP Police has been assembling since April 2025. As part of the broader campaign, the state had already blocked 2.94 lakh suspicious mobile numbers and roughly 1.81 lakh mobile devices (by IMEI) linked to fraudulent activity, while placing about ₹530 crore connected to cyber financial fraud under lien to stop the money from being withdrawn or moved further.

Cy-Vajra essentially converted that groundwork into an intensive week of coordinated action, pulling together local police units, cyber cells, and analytical support to convert leads into arrests and prosecutable cases.

The Pattern Behind the Numbers

Individual cases surfacing from the drive show a consistent template. In Gonda, police dismantled a mule-account racket built around fake solar-energy job offers, arresting five people — including a former political office-bearer — and uncovering more than ₹21 crore in suspicious transactions routed through over 20 fabricated accounts. In Siddharthnagar, a 20-year-old student’s own bank accounts turned out to be tied to 17 separate cybercrime complaints nationwide, worth close to ₹22.55 crore. In Lucknow, a call centre allegedly targeting victims in the United States was busted, with seven arrests.

A recurring thread across these cases is the recruitment of financially vulnerable people — students, unemployed youth, and gig workers — as mule account holders, often lured with the promise of easy commissions in exchange for handing over their bank credentials.

Why This Matters

• Mule accounts remain the backbone of Indian cyber fraud, letting operators launder money while distancing themselves from the paper trail.
• Coordinated, intelligence-led drives like Cy-Vajra target infrastructure (call centres, SIM networks, shell accounts) rather than one victim’s case at a time.
• Handing over a bank account, SIM card, or banking credentials for a commission can itself carry criminal liability, even for someone who didn’t run the scam.
• Victims and the public are urged to report suspected fraud immediately via the national cybercrime helpline (1930) or cybercrime.gov.in.

Police officials have indicated the campaign’s data and financial trails will continue to be worked through beyond the initial seven-day window, with more arrests and case registrations expected as forensic analysis of the seized material continues.