Police have arrested a man on charge of hacking into more than 4,000 eSewa accounts and illegally transfering over Rs 10 million, the state-run national news agency RSS reported.

Organising a press conference on Wednesday, the Kathmandu Valley Crime Investigation Office confirmed that they arrested 22-year-old Rahul Budha from Kalimati, Kathmandu for his alleged involvement in the illegal money transfer.

Budha, who is originally from Krishnapur Municipality-1, Kanchanpur, was residing in Kathmandu, added RSS. He is accused of stealing funds by sending phishing links via SMS, falsely warning recipients that their eSewa accounts were about to be suspended. Victims were tricked into clicking the link and unknowingly gave him access to their accounts.

Superintendent of Police Angur GC, spokesperson for the office, told RSS that Budha transferred Rs 10.2 million from users' accounts to the account of Pashupati Global Innovation Pvt. Ltd.

Police said further investigation is underway, and legal proceedings have begun.