LUCKNOW, Aug. 21 -- Balrampur police on Wednesday busted an inter-state syndicate that duped citizens of over Rs 112 crore through Chinese loan apps and arrested two of its key operatives. Based on a tip-off, police raided a mango orchard on Gonda Road and arrested Aniruddh Kumar of Barabanki and Himanshu Mishra of Amethi, currently residing in Lucknow. Balrampur SP Vikash Kumar said investigations revealed that fraudsters used Chinese loan apps like Udhar Loan, Rupee Factory, Quick Loan and Credit Bee to lure needy users by instantly crediting Rs 1,200 into their accounts after uploading Aadhaar, PAN, bank details, and photos. The apps also secretly accessed personal data. "When borrowers failed to repay on time, recovery agents harassed them. Borrowers were coerced to pay Rs 2,000 within a week against a loan of Rs 1,200. The extorted money was funneled into 'mule accounts'-bank accounts procured through fake documents," he said. The officer added that around Rs 1 crore was deposited into these mule accounts daily. Cash was withdrawn via ATMs and re-deposited into other mule accounts using Cash Deposit Machines (CDMs). From there, the money was converted into cryptocurrency USDT through Binance. Using the P2P (peer-to-peer) system, funds were routed to cybercriminals within India and abroad. htc...