Bengaluru, Feb. 7 -- The state police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested 13 people for allegedly running an operation to create and sell mule bank accounts to cybercrime gangs, which were then used to move stolen money, senior police officers aware of the matter said.

The raids were launched by the CID's Cyber Crime Wing on Thursday and spanned over 100 locations across the state, including Bengaluru, Koppal, Hubballi, Belagavi, Mangaluru and Ballari, added officers. Investigators said they identified over 42,000 mule accounts in the course of the operation.

Explaining the mechanism, cyber expert and former police inspector BK Poovaiah said, "A mule account is a bank account that is opened or lent by an innocent pers...