Bhubaneswar: Four cyber fraudsters have been arrested for duping a man of Rs 14 lakh by promising lucrative returns through online trading of bitcoin in Odisha.
The accused persons, who hail from Balasore district, have been identified as Vivekanand Mallick, Sapan Kumar Dalei, Sunil Kumar Das, and Bijan Kumar Panda, police said on Thursday.
Besides nabbing the accused, the cyber police personnel have seized Rs 39 lakh in the from of bank accounts, 10 ATM cards, 5 passbooks, 7 cheque books, a laptop, four mobile phones and a SIM card from them.
The racket was busted following a complaint lodged by Pramod Sahu of Chintamaniswar area in Bhubaneswar. As per the complaint, Sahu was contacted by the fraudsters who promised that he can earn lakhs of rupees just for liking and sharing videos on Telegram.
The victim joined the group by first paying Rs 1,000 and got suitable return. After winning his trust, the accused asked him to pay Rs 50,000 and gave Rs 60,000 in return. Thereafter, the fraudsters convinced him to invest Rs 5 lakh in Bitcoin and Sahu invested the amount as he was promised Rs 7 lakh in return. The victims found the offer tempting and invested the amount.
However, Sahu was unable to withdraw the amount and contacted the accused who asked him to deposit more money up to Rs 14 lakh citing several processes required for withdrawal of money in the trade. Even after depositing Rs 14 lakh, the victim failed to withdraw the money and realised that he had been trapped. The accused had also blocked his number and he was unable to contact them. Sahu then approached the cyber police for help.
Acting on his complaint, police registered a case and apprehended the fraudsters who were operating from Balasore. Further investigation is in progress.
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