BHUBANESWAR: The state Crime Branch has arrested two miscreants for allegedly duping a person of `1.08 crore through an online cricket betting scam.
The accused identified as Sk Wasiul Islam (29) of West Bengal and Jyoti Prakash Pallai (36) of Unit-III in the city, were remanded in judicial custody on Wednesday.
Sources said, the victim, a resident of Kalinganagar area in Jajpur, was defrauded by unknown cyber fraudsters between August 2022 and January 2025 through a fake link to an online cricket betting website. Initially, the victim started paying small amounts of Rs 1,000 through UPI and then he was addicted to the game to earn more money which he thought will be doubled and tripled.
“The fraudsters persuaded him to transfer more and more money, leading him to transfer Rs 1,08,79,420 from his account and several other accounts, including his wife, friends and staff. After 2.5 years, he realised that it was a scam and lodged an FIR at the Cyber police station on May 1,” said a police official.
Based on a detailed technical probe and digital surveillance, the Crime Branch team led by deputy SP Anila Anand nabbed the accused persons on Tuesday. The accused were found to be operating fake gaming platforms and phishing websites and used to steal sensitive banking and personal data for opening mule bank accounts and transferring huge amounts in their accounts.
Police have seized passbooks, mobile phones, SIM card, GST certificate, Aadhaar card and PAN card from them.