CUTTACK: The Commissionerate Police busted an organised gang of cybercriminals involved in a major inter-state Telegram investment scam with arrest of seven persons including three main culprits and four employees of private banks. Police have also frozen bank accounts worth over `90 lakh.
The arrested accused are Bablu Nayak (27) of Balikuda; Rudra Madhab Mohapatra (23), a BTech student from Tirtol, Jagatsinghpur; Pannaga Narayan Dash (25) of Mahanga, Cuttack; Harekrushna Sahoo (30) of Korei, Jajpur, relationship manager at Utkarsha Small Finance Bank; Abhisek Mohanty (31) of Kanakpur, Jagatsinghpur, deputy manager at Bandhan Bank; Debasish Mallick (32) of Balikuda, Jagatsinghpur, PRO at Axis Bank; and Swaraj Kumar Samal (32) of Jobra, Cuttack, assistant branch manager at Suryodaya Small Finance Bank, Dolamundai.
Briefing mediapersons, police commissioner S Dev Datta Singh said the gang used a network of fake companies like Mahakali Constructions Pvt Ltd, Priya Fintech, etc., and mule bank accounts to steal crores of rupees from victims. They bought mule bank accounts and SIM cards by bribing bank authorities and common people. Some bank officials and SIM card sellers also helped them bypass KYC checks to open current accounts using the fake company registrations to keep the accounts active.
They trapped victims by using Telegram and social media ads promising exorbitant returns on investments. Once a victim sent money, it was instantly moved through 10 to 15 different bank accounts using the online banking and UPI channels. After fraudulently gaining large sum, the gang permanently closed the bank accounts and destroyed the SIM cards, leaving no paper trail for investigators.
However, the investigation carried out by police in coordination with Cyber Crime & EO wing of Cuttack police uncovered the money-layering being used by the fraudsters to hide their tracks. “Prima facie their involvement has been found in two cases of Chanduali district in Uttar Pradesh and Supaul in Bihar. Two other main culprits are absconding and are being tracked by our team. Involvement of SIM card suppliers and other persons is being ascertained,” said Singh.
Apart from freezing more than Rs 90 lakh in various banks, as many as 69 mobile phones, four laptops, three desktops, 215 SIM cards of different service providers, 554 bank accounts, 702 debit and credit cards, a four-wheeler, two two-wheelers and cash of Rs 3,200 have been seized from their possession, he informed.