Jharsuguda: In a major breakthrough against interstate cyber crime, Jharsuguda Police have busted a sophisticated cyber fraud racket involved in APK file and fake e-challan based online financial scams and arrested two persons from West Bengal in connection with the case.
The action was taken in connection with Cyber Police Station Case No. 03/2026 following a complaint lodged by Sudhir Kumar Mohanty of Purunabasti in Jharsuguda, who reported unauthorized online transactions amounting to Rs 6,40,296 from his bank accounts.
Police said the fraudsters allegedly used malicious APK files and fake traffic e-challan links to gain unauthorized access to victims’ mobile phones and banking credentials before siphoning off money through online transactions.
Following the complaint, the Cyber Crime Police Station registered a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Information Technology Act and launched a detailed scientific and technical investigation.
A special police team was constituted to trace the accused persons, analyse digital evidence and follow the financial trail spread across multiple states. During the investigation, police carried out extensive technical analysis, scrutiny of bank accounts and examination of digital evidence, which revealed the involvement of an organized interstate cyber fraud syndicate.
Acting on technical intelligence inputs, special teams of Jharsuguda Police conducted raids in Bankura district of West Bengal and apprehended two accused persons identified as Bamacharan Katari (32) of Charigram village under Indas police station and Biswajeet Karmakar (43) of Kusmudi village under the same police station area.
The accused persons were produced before the court with a prayer for transit remand for further investigation, police said.
Jharsuguda Police also coordinated with various banks, payment gateways and financial institutions across states and succeeded in freezing substantial amounts lying in beneficiary accounts linked to the fraud.
Due to timely intervention by police and effective investigation, an amount of Rs 2,96,198.73 has already been refunded to the complainant under court orders.
Police reiterated their warning to citizens against clicking on suspicious APK files, fake e-challan links or unknown messages received through SMS, WhatsApp and social media platforms. People were also advised not to install applications from unverified sources or share confidential banking details with anyone.
Police urged victims of cyber fraud to immediately report incidents through the national cyber helpline number 1930 or the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal for prompt legal and financial assistance.
