SAMBALPUR/BARGARH/ROURKELA: In a major crackdown under ‘Operation Cyber Suraksha Kavach’, police have unearthed cyber fraud transactions worth over Rs 133 crore across Sambalpur, Bargarh and Rourkela.
In Sambalpur district, the cyber cell of the Crime Branch and police identified over 300 suspected mule bank accounts based on data analysis from the I4C portal (Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre).
So far, 140 accounts have been verified by Sambalpur cyber police station, with transactions amounting to a staggering Rs 110.30 crore. Verification of the remaining accounts is underway.
Briefing mediapersons on Thursday, Sambalpur SP Mukesh Bhamoo said 20 accused have been arrested while 32 others have been served notices. Transactions linked to these 52 accounts alone total around Rs 75.36 crore.
Similarly in Bargarh, police busted a major mule account racket in a single case involving fraud of around Rs 10 crore.
Since the drive began on February 13, nine additional cyber fraud cases involving over Rs 5.03 crore have also been detected.
SP Prahlad Sahai Meena said the operation aims to dismantle mule account networks and will continue till February 27.
In the biggest detection, Town police arrested one Manoj Kumar Kushal (35) on charges of opening and operating multiple bank accounts used to route cyber fraud proceeds.
During a raid, police seized 57 passbooks, 19 cheque books, 81 ATM cards, and 26 SIM cards among others.
So far, police have verified 1,062 suspected mule accounts across banks in the district, registered 10 cognisable cases and arrested multiple accused persons.
Separate cases were also registered against PoS agents and others allegedly involved in issuing SIM cards used in digital arrest scams and impersonation frauds.
In Rourkela, intensified enforcement led to registration of 10 cyber crime cases at different police stations on Wednesday.
Fraud transactions exceeding Rs 8.14 crore have been detected so far, informed SP Nitesh Wadhwani.
Victims of cyber fraud have been advised to immediately report incidents through the National Cyber Crime Helpline 1930, the Cyber Crime Portal cybercrime.gov.in, or the nearest police station or cyber cell.