Operation CyHawk 4.0: Over 600 held in cybercrime crackdown

The Delhi Police have arrested more than 600 individuals and detained over 8,300 suspects during ‘Operation CyHawk 4.0’, a large-scale cybercrime crackdown carried out on 6 and 7 April, officials said on Wednesday.

A senior police officer said the son of a Delhi-based eatery chain owner was among those arrested.

“Due to losses in business, the son of the famous eatery chain’s owner provided his bank account to move proceeds of cybercrime on a commission basis, receiving a three per cent commission. He shared his bank account user ID and password, and stolen or defrauded money was siphoned through that account. In this case, we have arrested Javed, and further investigation is ongoing,” the official said.

The officer added that the operation targeted the financial backbone and operational ecosystem of organised cybercrime syndicates across the capital, marking a shift from reactive policing to proactively dismantling fraud networks.

A total of 8,371 individuals were rounded up for questioning and verification during coordinated raids conducted simultaneously across multiple districts. Of these, 1,429 were either arrested or bound down after investigators established strong financial and technical links to cyber fraud activities.

In addition, 2,203 notices were issued to individuals suspected of being part of the broader financial chain associated with such crimes.

Police registered 499 fresh FIRs against identified cyber fraudsters, significantly expanding legal action against organised networks. Investigators also made progress in 324 previously pending cases, apprehending several accused after linking them to digital and financial evidence uncovered during the operation.

The crackdown focused on the financial architecture of cybercrime, including mule bank accounts used to route and layer defrauded funds, agents involved in cash withdrawals, and organised call centres executing online scams.

“As part of the action, several illegal call centres operating in different parts of Delhi were identified and neutralised, halting ongoing frauds involving fake job offers, digital arrest scams, telemarketing fraud, and customer-care impersonation,” the officer said.

During the investigation, police linked 3,564 complaints registered on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal to identified mule accounts and suspected mobile numbers.

“More than Rs 519 crore of defrauded money reported through complaints across the country was traced to bank accounts associated with organised cyber fraud networks,” the officer added.