Koraput: Police from this district have busted an inter-state online fraud racket arresting three members of the gang from Bihar, officials said Tuesday. The accused were identified as Bhola Prasad, 46, Gourav Kumar, 23, and Vikas Kumar, 23, of Chakbai village under Warisaliganj police station limits in Nawada district of Bihar. The three have been accused of defrauding a trader of Rs 1.50 lakh online on the promise of providing him cement at cheap rates. Police have also seized Rs 1.5 lakh in cash, one laptop 14 mobiles, and three passbooks from the possession of the accused. They were brought here and produced in the court, SDPO Srabani Nayak said, while addressing a press meet at the Korpaut police station, Tuesday The SDPO said that the accused had floated an advertisement on Google Ads promising to provide cement at cheap rates.
A trader in this district noticed the advertisement and contacted the phone number mentioned in the post. The trader was asked to deposit Rs 1.50 lakh in an account which he did. The trader realised that he had been duped after he failed to get the cement even after substantial time had elapsed. He then lodged a complaint at the Town police station here, June 18. Police registered a case and launched an investigation.
On being directed by SP Anubhav Sonkar, the case was transferred to the Cyber Crime Department. During investigations, the number mentioned in the advertisement was traced to Bihar which belonged to one of the accused. With help from Warsaliganj police station, the Cyber Crime team tracked the whereabouts of the three youths and arrested them from Chakbai village. Efforts are on to track others involved in the racket while further investigation is underway, officials of the Cyber Crime Department said.