Bhubaneswar: In a major cyber fraud case, the Police Commissionerate of Bhubaneswar-Cuttack has arrested three persons from Rourkela for allegedly duping a Cuttack-based man of Rs 13.72 lakh. The victim was lured with the promise of doubling his money by posting Google reviews for an Indian cryptocurrency platform.
The accused have been identified as Abinash Ojha (35), an employee linked with Paytm and NSDL; Jagan Sahoo (24), working with Airtel and Jio Payments Bank; and Pratik Chaurasia alias Sidharth Chaurasia (21), a SIM card seller. All are residents of Rourkela.
According to an official press release, Ojha was responsible for opening and selling bank accounts to fraudsters, while Sahoo procured pre-activated SIM cards and account kits, which were then couriered to cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Gujarat, and Rajasthan. Chaurasia supplied these SIM cards to the other two accused.
On July 6, 2025, a resident of Jagatpur, Cuttack lodged a complaint, stating that he had been contacted by a woman named Nisha Singh via a Telegram channel. She shared a link promoting an opportunity to earn double returns by posting Google reviews for a cryptocurrency company. Trusting the scheme, the complainant transferred Rs 13,72,070 between May 16 and May 29, 2025.
Upon realising he had been cheated, the complainant approached the police. The Cyber Police Station, Cuttack UPD, promptly launched an investigation led by SI L. Sahoo. Though the mobile numbers used by the fraudsters were switched off, the team analysed login data, bank transactions, CDRs, SDRs, and IPDRs to trace the accused.
Under the supervision of the Commissioner of Police, a special investigation team comprising five officers was dispatched to Rourkela. With assistance from local police, all three accused were apprehended and brought to Cuttack for court proceedings.
Earlier, on September 6, 2025, another accused, Anurag Pattanaik (21), was arrested from Rourkela in connection with the same scam.
Seized from the accused:
- 6 mobile phones
- 3 Aadhaar cards
- 3 cheque books
- 10 passbooks
- Rs 2,00,000 in frozen funds
- 39 bank accounts frozen
The investigation is ongoing and more arrests are likely.
