Bhubaneswar: The Crime Branch of Odisha Police arrested two persons for allegedly duping a woman of over Rs 1.56 crore through fraudulent online investment schemes.
The two, identified as Kamadev Rout and Bikram Kumar Jethi, have been arrested under the provisions of the Prize Chits & Money Circulation Scheme (Banning) Act 1978., a Crime Branch press release said on Thursday.
The accused persons were arrested following a complaint lodged by Mamata Rout of Balisahi, Salipur in Cuttack, who alleged that she was duped through fraudulent investment schemes on gaming platforms such as world.net, bounty game in, Ubitcoin staking, ride BNB, and HAHM.
The scam, which spanned from February 2024 to February 2025, involved deceitful promises of high returns on investments. The victim transferred Rs 57.39 lakh to ten different bank accounts provided by the accused and handed over Rs 98.60 lakh in cash on various occasions.
Investigations revealed that Rs 14.77 lakh and Rs 8.45 lakh were transferred to the accounts of Kamadev Rout and Bikram Kumar Jethi, respectively, from the complainant and her associate Kshirendra Kumar Sahoo. The accused were apprehended in Cuttack on July 16 and 17, 2025, after attempting to further extort money from the victim.
Electronic gadgets, including mobile phones, were seized during the operation. Preliminary findings indicate that the accused invested the defrauded money in immovable assets such as land, vehicles, and gold ornaments in Bhubaneswar and Jharkhand.
Both the accused have been forwarded to the Designated Court under the OPID Act in Cuttack. Further investigation is underway to trace additional links and recover the investments.
