Bhubaneswar: The Crime Branch of Odisha Police has arrested a key accused from West Bengal in a major online investment fraud case involving an amount of over Rs 2.36 crore.
The arrested person has been identified as Nikhil Jaiswal (23), a resident of Khiddipore, Kolkata, West Bengal.
The Crime Branch said in a statement that the complaint was filed on October 4, 2023, by a 50-year-old person from Purighat in Cuttack, alleging that he was lured into an online fraud scheme involving stocks and IPO investments. The fraudsters, operating under the guise of a WhatsApp group named “C-51 ICICI Securities Official Stock,” initially gained the complainant’s trust by promising high returns.
The victim was guided to invest through fraudulent apps (https://app.fiosh.com, https://bolsip.com), which led him to make substantial investments.
In the initial stages, the complainant experienced small profits, which encouraged him to continue investing. However, the situation took a drastic turn when the fraudsters offered him a fake loan to invest in IPOs. When the victim attempted to withdraw his funds, he encountered a “Pending Review” status and was eventually coerced into repaying a non-existent loan of Rs 1.5 crore.
The fraudsters, using multiple WhatsApp numbers and false identities, successfully duped the victim of a total of Rs 2.36 crore. The victim, upon realizing the deception, lodged an FIR, and the case was taken up by the State Crime Branch Cyber Crime Police Station.
Earlier, Mohammed Zaki, a resident of Hyderabad, was arrested in connection with the case. After analysing digital evidence and transaction details, investigators traced the fraud to Kolkata, where they identified Nikhil Jaiswal as the second accused. Following verification of the suspect’s details, Jaiswal was apprehended on May 6, 2025, and brought to Odisha on transit remand.
The accused was produced before the Court of CJM Alipore, 24-Parganas (South) before being brought to Odisha. He was presented before the JMFC III in Cuttack today. Jaiswal faces multiple charges under sections 419, 420, 465, 467, 471, 120-B, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, along with sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act.
During the investigation, police seized several incriminating items, including mobile phones, SIM cards, screenshots of WhatsApp chats, Aadhar cards, PAN cards, bank passbooks, cheque books, and debit cards. The investigating officer (IO) has also frozen several bank accounts associated with the fraudsters.
F
urther investigation is underway and efforts are on to apprehend other accomplices involved in this crime and ascertain its trans-India ramifications, and the money trail.
