KANPUR, April 19 -- Two Punjab residents were arrested by the UP STF and Kanpur police for supplying mule accounts to an interstate cyber fraud network that moved nearly Rs 80 crore through fake firms and layered bank transfers over three months, police commissioner Raghubir Lal said. The two accused, Karan Kesra and Gulshan, both from Abbohar, provided the financial infrastructure, fake accounts and shell firms, that allowed the gang to launder proceeds from online investment scams, he said. The case surfaced on January 2, when a medical store owner in Kanpur's Naubasta area filed a complaint alleging he had been cheated of Rs 12.82 lakh. The accused had lured him into a fake share trading scheme through a WhatsApp group, showed him early notional profits to build confidence, and then vanished after he invested further. The app was shut down without warning. Tracing the money led investigators to an account held by a fictitious firm, AK Trading, at a National Urban Cooperative Bank branch in Delhi. The account, opened in the name of one Ajay from Abbohar, had recorded transactions worth approximately Rs 80 crore in three months. It was linked to 13 FIRs across several Uttar Pradesh districts and 650 complaints on the NCRP portal, Lal said. To evade detection, the gang routed stolen funds through five to six banking layers before withdrawing the money via cheque and ATM, the commissioner said. Karan and Gulshan's role was to source and supply fake accounts to the gang's operators, for which they received a commission of around 60%. The two operated under codenames, Karan as Little Monga and Gulshan as Kalra, and used multiple WhatsApp groups to run what police described as a network with links in China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Police said Karan had used the proceeds to purchase a house and a luxury car. The income tax department had separately issued him a notice for Rs 3 crore. Several bank accounts linked to the accused showed unusually large transaction volumes, police added....