CUTTACK: The Crime Branch of Odisha Police on Wednesday claimed to have busted a cyber fraud syndicate with the arrest of 24 people involved in swindling Rs 6.28 crore.
Briefing mediapersons, Crime Branch ADG Vinaytosh Mishra said on August 24, senior officer of JSPL, Angul Kuntal Majumdar filed a complaint in Cyber police station, Cuttack alleging that he was randomly added to a WhatsApp trading group ‘Kotak Investment Club’. Believing it to be genuine and after being persuaded by the group admin, Majumdar invested Rs 6.28 crore in purchasing 2,540,000 shares, each at Rs 19, between August 1 and 7.
Immediately after the investment, the base price of each share suddenly increased to Rs 110 with his fund value touching Rs 25 crore. Majumdar evinced interest to withdraw the money and the group admin allowed him to take out Rs 23 crore on August 21. But when he tried to withdraw the fund, he was removed from that WhatsApp group and the app used for transactions was deactivated.
Acting on the complaint, the cyber crime unit of the CB swung into action and formed seven teams to nab the fraudsters. “After reviewing the money trail, we identified over 100 different bank accounts to which the complainant’s money was transferred. All the accounts have been frozen with a credit balance of Rs 16.85 lakh. Besides, Rs 6.80 lakh has been transferred to the complainant’s account,” said Mishra.
Of the 24 accused persons, nine are from Tamil Nadu, eight from Gujarat and seven from Rajasthan. The ADG said the 24 accused are not the kingpins but ‘foot soldiers’ of the cybder fraud racket.
“After duping people, the kingpin used to remove them from the WhatsApp group, transfer their money to the accounts of these foot soldiers and withdraw the money within two/three days. The kingpin used to give some commission to them. Further investigation is underway and efforts are on to nab the kingpin,” Mishra added.