The Bengaluru Police have initiated an investigation into a cyber fraud case in which hackers allegedly infiltrated the official email correspondence between Hyderabad-based Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories and Bengaluru’s Group Pharmaceuticals, resulting in the diversion of a payment worth ₹2.16 crore to a fraudulent bank account.
According to the First Information Report (FIR) filed at the Cyber Crime Police Station in Bengaluru, the complaint was lodged by Mahesh Babu K, a senior executive at Group Pharmaceuticals. The company had supplied goods to Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories and was expecting a payment of ₹2.16 crore for the same.
The FIR stated that on November 3, hackers gained unauthorised access to the email communication between both companies. Using this access, the culprits impersonated representatives of Group Pharmaceuticals and sent deceptive emails to Dr. Reddy’s finance department, providing falsified bank account details. Misled by these fraudulent communications, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories transferred ₹2.16 crore to the fake account on November 4.
Upon discovering the fraud, the complainant approached the police, requesting immediate action to freeze the fraudulent account and recover the diverted funds. Following the complaint, the police registered a case on November 5 under relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act and under Sections 318(4) (cheating) and 319(2) (cheating by personation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
A senior police official stated that preliminary investigations have traced the fraudulent account to Vadodara, Gujarat. Authorities confirmed that the account has been frozen and that efforts are underway to identify the individuals involved and recover the misappropriated amount.
Meanwhile, Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories issued a clarification, stating that the company detected the fraud promptly and took swift action in coordination with its banking partners. “The incident involved impersonation of a vendor’s email address to divert a legitimate payment. With timely detection and immediate action by our teams and banking partners, the funds have been frozen, ensuring that there was no financial loss to either the company or the vendor,” the statement read.
The case highlights the increasing sophistication of cybercriminals targeting corporate communications and financial transactions through business email compromise (BEC) schemes. Investigations remain ongoing as authorities work to trace the perpetrators and prevent similar incidents in the future.
