Visakhapatnam: The Visakhapatnam Cyber ​​Crime Police have successfully nabbed members of a Delhi-based gang responsible for an elaborate healthcare fraud scheme targeting residents of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The fraudsters, posing as officials of the Aarogyasri health department, duped at least 146 victims in both the states.

According to Police Commissioner Shankhabrata Bagchi, scammers would call random mobile numbers claiming to process reimbursements for Aarogyasri health services. Victims were sent malicious links which, when clicked, led to unauthorized transfers of funds from their accounts.

In one case, Raghupatruni Varalakshmi, a 52-year-old accountant from Visakhapatnam, lost Rs. 84,243 after she received a call about refunding delivery charges for her daughter-in-law. Two other victims, Yenni Sasikala and Boi Divya, lost Rs. 99,342 and Rs. 99,430 respectively, bringing the total loss for these three victims alone to Rs. 2,83,015.

Police have arrested several suspects, including Kakani Narendra, Shivratri Karthik and Paluri Prasad, who were brought from Delhi on a transit warrant. Two other suspects, Veernala Balaji and Poojala Chandrasekhar, were earlier arrested in Hyderabad in connection with the case.

Investigation revealed that the operation was led by two individuals — Satyam from Madhya Pradesh and Narendra from Andhra Pradesh — who coordinated with other Telugu-speaking accomplices from their base in Delhi. The scheme claimed at least 146 lives in both states, with 57 cases reported in Andhra Pradesh and 89 in Telangana.

The cyber crime unit advised citizens to check any calls claiming to be from Aarogyasri by contacting local hospital coordinators and never share personal or banking information over the phone. Victims can report such frauds through cyber crime portal or by calling toll free number 1930.