Bhubaneswar: In a major breakthrough under ‘Operation Netra,’ Jharsuguda police on Tuesday arrested 11 persons involved in a multi-state cyber fraud racket that used mule accounts to siphon money.
The accused include Sonu Mandal, Shubham Prasad, Shivam Sahu, Abhay Ghosh, Sameer Suna, and M. Jagadeeshwar Rao of Jharsuguda; Yogeshwar Chand of Sambalpur; Naresh Bagh, Dhiraj Gardia, Abhiraj Shah of Rourkela; and a minor.
According to Jharsuguda SP Gundala Reddy Raghavendra, the gang targeted students and daily wage workers across western Odisha, including Sambalpur, Sonepur, Sundergarh, Rourkela, and Jharsuguda.
“Their modus operandi involved giving Rs 5,000 to account holders and Rs 10,000 to mediators. The account holders would then hand over their bank details to the mediators, who used them for illegal transactions,” said Jharsuguda SP Raghavendra while speaking to the media.
The Jharsuguda SP also stated that it is a multi-layered operation.
“Abhay Ghosh would collect account details and send them by bus to Rourkela, where Abhiraj Shah would forward them to fraud hubs in Bihar and Jamtara in Jharkhand. Within the network, one gang collected ATM cards and mobile SIM cards, while another handled money transfers,” he added.
During the operation, the police seized 61 passports, 41 ATM cards, 19 mobile phones, and two motorcycles.
The Jharsuguda police have urged citizens to remain cautious of suspicious financial transactions and report any unusual activity to the police.
