Thumula Deepika, v. The State of Telangana
Court: High Court for State of Telangana
Bench: K. SUJANA
Judgment date:
Case summary
High Court for State of Telangana judgment dated 2026-03-17. Thumula Deepika, v. The State of Telangana. Read the judgment and case details on LawSphereX.
Judgment text
IN THE HIGH COURT FOR THE STATE OF TELANGANA AT HYDERABAD THE HONOURABLE SMT. JUSTICE K. SUJANA CRIMINAL PETITION No. 3272 of 2026 DATE: 17. 03. 2026 BETWEEN: Thumula Deepika and others ….. petitioner/accused And The State of Telangana, Rep. by its Public Prosecutor, High Court for the State of Telangana at Hyderabad. ….. Respondent/complainant ORDER This Criminal Petition is filed under Section 482 of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (for short ‘BNSS’) for grant of pre-arrest bail to the petitioners, who are arrayed as accused in Crime No. 30 of 2026 before the Cyber Crime Crl. P. No. 3272 of 2026 Police Station, TSCSB, registered for the offences punishable under Section 66D IT Act-2008, 316, 318(4), 338 and 112 of BNS. 2.
The brief facts of the case are that during analysis of complaints received through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP), certain bank accounts were found linked to cyber fraud complaints and were allegedly used as first or second layer receiving accounts for fraudulent transactions. Based on the preliminary verification conducted by the Cyber Crime Police, a suo-motu FIR was registered against the petitioners and others alleging their involvement in receiving fraud proceeds and converting them into cryptocurrency through peer-to-peer transactions on the Binance platform. 3. Heard Sri Nallapu Manideep, learned counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners as well as Sri M. Ramachander Reddy, learned Additional Public Prosecutor appearing on behalf of the respondent – State. Crl. P. No. 3272 of 2026 4.
Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the petitioners are innocent and have been falsely implicated and that they participated in cryptocurrency trading through the Binance application after completing KYC verification and carried out only peer-to-peer transactions involving crypto assets like USDT through regular banking channels such as UPI and bank transfers. The petitioners claim that they themselves were victims of an online trading scam and have already submitted a representation to the Director General of Police seeking investigation against the real offenders. He contended that the FIR does not attribute any specific overt acts to the petitioners, the alleged offences are punishable with imprisonment below seven years, custodial interrogation is unnecessary as the transactions are traceable through digital records. Therefore, he prayed the Court to grant pre-arrest bail to the petitioner by allowing this Criminal Petition. 5.
On the other hand, learned Additional Public Prosecutor opposed the grant of anticipatory bail contending that the investigation revealed that the accused were actively involved in P2P cryptocurrency trading and were intentionally purchasing cryptocurrency at lower prices and selling it at Crl. P. No. 3272 of 2026 higher prices to facilitate conversion of cyber fraud proceeds into cryptocurrency. He further submitted that the accused knowingly received fraud proceeds in their bank accounts and immediately converted them into crypto assets, thereby assisting cyber criminals in laundering money and concealing the trail of crime proceeds. Despite certain bank accounts being frozen or marked with lien, the accused allegedly continued the transactions through multiple bank accounts to evade detection and that several complaints are linked to the bank accounts of the accused and further investigation is required to trace financial trails, bank accounts and crypto wallets.
Therefore, he prayed the Court to dismiss the Criminal Petition. 6. In the light of the submissions made by both the learned counsel and on perusal of the material available on record, it appears that the present crime was registered based on the analysis of complaints received through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP), wherein certain bank accounts were allegedly found linked to cyber fraud transactions and suspected to have been used as receiving accounts for fraudulent proceeds which were later converted Crl. P. No. 3272 of 2026 into cryptocurrency through peer-to-peer transactions on the Binance platform. The main allegation against the petitioners is that they participated in such P2P cryptocurrency trading and facilitated the conversion of fraud proceeds into crypto assets. However, at this stage, it is not in dispute that the alleged transactions were carried out through banking channels and digital platforms and the same are traceable through electronic records.
The offences alleged are punishable with imprisonment below seven years. As seen from the record, the substantial part of the investigation appears to be based on digital and documentary evidence and the same is already within the reach of the investigating agency. Therefore, the custodial interrogation of the petitioners does not appear to be necessary for the purpose of investigation. Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, this Court deems it fit to grant pre-arrest bail to the petitioners subject to the following conditions: i. The petitioners shall surrender before the Station House Officer, Cyber Crime Police Station, TGCSB, within two weeks from today, and on such surrender, the said Station House Crl. P. No. 3272 of 2026 Officer shall release them on bail on executing a personal bond for Rs. 25,000/-, each with two sureties, for the like sum each. ii.
The petitioners shall abide by the other conditions stipulated in Section 482(2) of Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 and co-operate with the Investigating Officer in investigating the case. iii. The petitioners shall appear before the concerned Investigating Officer on every Monday between 09:00 a. m, and 05:00 p. m. , for a period of eight (8) weeks or till the filing of the charge sheet, whichever is earlier and thereafter, as and when required. 7. Accordingly, this Criminal Petition is allowed. Miscellaneous applications, if any pending, shall stand closed. _______________ K. SUJANA, J Date: 17. 03. 2026 SAI Crl. P. No. 3272 of 2026 THE HONOURABLE SMT JUSTICE K. SUJANA CRIMINAL PETITION No. 3272 of 2026 Date: 17. 03. 2026 SAI
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