Cyber Fraud: Man Held For Duping Ex-IAF Officer Of Rs 35 Lakh In Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: Cyber Crime and Economic Offences sleuths have arrested a person for allegedly duping an ex-IAF officer of Rs 35 lakh in Odisha capital.

The accused has been identified as Santosh Sahoo (26), a native of Pokhariapada in Kendrapada district. He was residing at Patrapada under Khandagiri police limits in Bhubaneswar. Three mobile phones, Rs 6 lakh in cash, two passbooks and two ATM cards were seized from his possession.

According police sources, Kishore Chandra Gantayat, a former officer of the Indian Air Force, lodged a complaint on October 19 after Rs 35 lakh was illegally transferred from his bank accounts through IMPS, UPI, and INB between June and September this year.

Investigation revealed that the accused was well acquainted with the complainant, who had met the former in July during a visit to AIIMS-Bhubaneswar. Gantayat often lost money playing games online. Since the accused had a diploma in data science, he discussed the matter with him. Santosh helped to retrieve some of his money using the latter’s mobile phone, thus gaining access to his phone while also winning his trust. Gantayat then shared his banking details with Santosh as he promised to get the entire money lost in online gaming refunded.

Following which, the accused defrauded the complainant and unauthorisedly transferred Rs 35 lakh to two of his accounts in Assam and Bengaluru and then again to another two accounts. Santosh reportedly made foreign trips and stayed in luxury hotels by using the duped money, the sources added.

Bhubaneswar City Police has requested public not to share contact details, personal information like Aadhaar card and PAN card with any person or on any unknown link.