Cuttack: The Crime Branch of Odisha Police has arrested 24 interstate cyber fraudsters in connection with defrauding investors to the tune of Rs 6.28 crore, a source said Wednesday.
The Additional Director General (ADG) of the Crime Branch, Vinaytosh Mishra, said that after the complaint was lodged, seven teams were formed to probe the interstate fraud ring. Police have arrested nine accused from Tamil Nadu, eight from Gujarat and seven from Rajasthan.
According to the complaint, the victim was added to a fraudulent WhatsApp group and lured into investing a large sum for promised high returns. Following his investment, he was later removed from the WhatsApp group.
Mishra added that police froze Rs 16.85 lakh from the suspects’ bank accounts and returned Rs 6.8 lakh to the victim.
The victim was initially given shares worth Rs 19 each, which quickly inflated to Rs 110, Mishra said.
When the complainant wanted to withdraw the money, the group admin allowed him to withdraw it August 21, 2024. When he made an attempt to withdraw his funds, he was removed from that WhatsApp group and the application used for transactions was deactivated, the officer said.
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The Crime Branch officer added that the arrested people were not the real kingpins. They may be termed foot soldiers of a major syndicate that cheats people, he said.
“As of date the team has apprehended nine accused persons from Tamil Nadu, eight accused from Gujarat and seven from Rajasthan,” he said adding that six of the accused were produced before a court October 28 and 11 will be produced before a court Wednesday.
Another seven accused are being brought to Odisha from Rajasthan on transit remand, he said, adding that the investigation is in progress.
PNN & Agencies