The investigation into the loan app case following the arrest of five men by the Maharashtra cybercops appears to have hit the dead end with the emergence of Chinese links. Maharashtra Cyber, the nodal agency for cyber security and cybercrime investigation in the state, has found that one of the Gmail IDs used to upload the Handy Loan app on Google Play Store was activated from China.

The cyber police have also found that the WhatsApp numbers used to harass borrowers of the Handy Loan app were active in at least 11 states other than Karnataka from where the five accused were arrested last month. The action followed a series of reports by mid-day that highlighted the harassment of borrowers with their morphed pictures.