Ranchi/Bokaro, Jharkhand: Altogether 8,674 bank accounts, allegedly linked to cybercriminals, have been frozen in Jharkhand on suspicion that these were being used for phishing activities, a CID official said on Tuesday.

The maximum of 2002 accounts were frozen in Deoghar district, followed by 1,183 in Dhanbad and 959 in Ranchi, he said.

“We received the details of frozen accounts from the Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre and prepared a district and bank-wise list of such information."

"The data will be shared with the superintendent of police of all districts and banks for verification of the accounts,” Jharkhand Crime Investigation Department (CID) Director General Anurag Gupta told PTI.

He said that the details of such account holders would be traced.

“If these accounts are found fake or linked to cybercriminals, action will be taken against the account holders," he said.

The CID has been carrying out a massive operation against cybercriminals in Jharkhand.

As many as 495 people have been arrested for allegedly being involved in cybercrimes, and FIRs lodged against 107 for cyber frauds in the past three months, Gupta said.

Besides, 1,164 mobile phones and 1,725 SIM cards have also been seized during operations against cybercrimes, he said.

Raids against cybercriminals are being conducted regularly in various districts, including Deoghar, Giridih, Bokaro, Jamtara and Ranchi.

Sixteen cybercriminals were arrested on Monday from Bokaro district, police said.

Bokaro City Deputy Superintendent of Police Kuldeep Kumar said that the accused were residing in rented houses near Cooperative Colony.

The police also recovered mobile phones, SIM cards, post barcodes, rubber stamps and fake currencies from them, he added.