Responding to a question in the state assembly regarding the unfreezing of bank accounts, Home Minister Harsh Sanghvi announced that Gujarat has become the first state in the country to formulate a policy of freezing only the amount transferred in cyber frauds instead of the entire bank account.

Addressing the pleas of innocents entangled in a fraudulent network of cybercrimes, the Gujarat Police’s Cyber Cell has unfrozen over 2.58 lakh bank accounts in 20 days, following instructions from the Home Department.

Sanghvi informed that in 2024, frauds worth ₹85.24 crore took place, out of which the police have successfully refunded ₹66.15 crore. Efforts are underway to recover the remaining amount, as the department aims for a “100% strike rate.”

As per the new policy, instead of the entire account, only the specified amount involved in the fraud will now be frozen.

Speaking further about cybercrime, the minister said, “Cyber fraudsters have a modus operandi where the amount obtained from the fraud is immediately transferred to the bank accounts of other individuals. During this, accounts of many innocents are used to deposit this swindled amount, and authoritative action that follows sees their accounts being frozen.”