Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Police’s special statewide drive against cyber crime, ‘Operation Cyber Kavach’, has gathered significant momentum by its ninth day, with authorities verifying 2,067 mule (benami) bank accounts and arresting 146 accused persons.
The operation, aimed at dismantling the financial infrastructure supporting cyber criminals, is being conducted under the direction of Director General of Police Yogesh Bahadur Khurania.
The campaign is being carried out by District Cyber Crime Units under the supervision of respective Superintendents of Police and Deputy Commissioners of Police, while overall coordination is being handled by the CID Crime Branch.
Since the launch of the operation, police have registered 166 cyber cases related to mule bank accounts, along with seven cases each linked to cheque withdrawals and fake SIM Point-of-Sale operations.
In connection with these cases, 146 individuals have been taken into custody. Legal notices have also been served to 609 suspected associates and account holders, including those linked to newly registered cases as well as 69 individuals connected to older FIRs.
The enforcement drive has covered districts across the state, with significant action reported from places such as Sambalpur, Keonjhar, Kendrapara, Mayurbhanj and Kalahandi, among others. Police teams in these districts have examined multiple accounts, registered fresh cases, carried out arrests and issued notices to suspected persons as part of the coordinated crackdown.
The operation has also seen account verification and legal action in districts including Khordha, Jajpur, Jagatsinghpur, Sundargarh, Balasore, Bhadrak, Ganjam, Koraput, Rayagada, Puri and Cuttack, reflecting the statewide scale of the drive.
Reaffirming the commitment of Odisha Police to ensure digital safety for citizens, DGP Khurania stated that the campaign will be further intensified in the coming days to completely choke the financial channels used by cyber criminals and to strengthen the state’s cyber security framework.
