Phulbani: Cyber police in Odisha’s Kandhamal have dismantled a Rs 6.27 crore cyber fraud racket with the arrest of five suspects and freezing of multiple bank accounts linked to the scheme.
Led by the district cyber police, the crackdown on Friday resulted in the arrest of alleged mastermind Tusharkanti Das from Mayurbhanj. Four others—Abinash Mohapatra, Kiran Kumar Behera, Gopal Singh, and Badal Kumar Swain—were apprehended in Phulban
i.
The operation followed alerts from the Crime Branch, which flagged suspicious transactions across multiple mule accounts.
Police said the fraudsters allegedly opened multiple savings and corporate accounts in the names of poor and unsuspecting individuals. Victims were lured with promises of commissions. Their credentials from ATM cards, passbooks, net banking details and SIM cards were collected and misused. Investigators traced suspicious transactions across 16 accounts in Phulbani, all of which have now been frozen.
As probe has revealed that these accounts were reportedly tied to cybercrime activities operating both in India and abroad, an investigation has been launched to uncover the wider international network. Notices under Section 35 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 were served to 10 account holders linked to the fraud.