The account came under scanner during an analysis of complaints registered on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP), police said.

A dedicated team from the Cyber Police Station launched an inquiry and a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered.

“The account was registered in the name of Mahakal Enterprises and purportedly belonged to one Shailendra Kumar Yadav. However, when police traced and questioned him, he denied opening it, visiting the bank branch or signing any document,” DCP (East) Rajeev Ranjan said.

Investigators subsequently found that he actually did not visit the bank during the period when the account was opened. Further inquiry revealed that the signatures on the forms did not match his. Officers thus concluded that his identity and credentials had allegedly been misused without his knowledge.

As officers looked for the official who was associated with the process of opening the account, bank records pointed to Pabitra Kumar Biswal, the deputy manager at the New Kondli branch.

During questioning, Biswal allegedly told police that he did not visit the address mentioned by the firm in the bank documents. Investigators further found that mandatory KYC checks, customer due diligence measures and verification procedures had not been properly carried out.

According to the police, the mule account, thus created, was used to receive and route proceeds from cyber frauds on a massive scale. Two mobile phones were also recovered from Biswal, police said.

Efforts are now being made to find out if there is a wider network involved — including possible beneficiaries, facilitators and other bank accounts — that may have been used to move fraudulent proceeds across the country. Further investigation is underway, police said.