Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Crime Branch (CB) has arrested seven inter-state cyber criminals in connection with a Rs 1.4 crore fraud, reportedly involving former minister and BJD MLA Tusharkanti Behera.
Speaking to the media, Crime Branch IG Sarthak Sarangi, without naming the BJD leader, said that the case was registered on January 13. “We traced the deposits to seven accounts across India. After analysis of the accounts, police teams were sent to Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala and accordingly, seven persons were arrested. Rs 4 lakh was recovered from their bank accounts,” he said.
Four among them were arrested from Kanataka and three from Tamil Nadu. They were brought to Odisha on transit demand on Sunday.
He added another Rs 15 lakh has also been frozen in the second layer of accounts.
The IG said that further raids are continuing and the teams soon will visit Delhi, Hyderabad, West Bengal, Shimla, Maharashtra and Assam. “They will verify the remaining accounts. More people are likely to be arrested in connection with the fraud,” he said.
Sarangi refused to divulge the name of the complainant, stating that it would jeopardise the investigation.
Elaborating on the modus operandi, Sarangi said that the fraudsters send links of investment apps to people on WhatsApp. “The initial investments are small amounting to around Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 for which the depositors get quick returns, which act as allurement for further investment. They appoint counsellors to motivate the depositors to continue investing in the app and increase the amount being invested,” he said.
He warned people not to fall into such traps in which they are asked to deposit amounts in different accounts.
Sources said that the gang targeted the former minister, promising high returns through investments in initial public offerings (IPOs) and over-the-counter (OTC) tradings.. Behera approached the police in January this year, after losing nearly Rs 1.4 crore between November 13, 2024, and January 1, 2025. The amount was deposited in 19 accounts. Initially, the accused, who identified as trade analysts, told the MLA that he had sustained losses but assured him that he would make profits if he continued to make investments. However, when he attempted to withdraw his money, they demanded additional funds from him to release it. Suspecting it to be scam, he approached the agency.
Ironically, Behera is a former IT minister of Odisha and a postgraduate from IIT, Kharagpur.
