Bhubaneswar: Odisha Police have arrested five more people in connection with a ₹6.28 crore online fraud, a police statement said Tuesday.
The latest arrests were made in Kerala and the apprehended persons were brought to Odisha on transit remand Tuesday, the statement added.
The accused persons are residents of Malappuram, Tirurangadi and Thrissur areas of Kerala, it said.
With the apprehensions from the southern state, the total number of people nabbed in connection with the case rose to 29.
Earlier, 24 accused persons from different states were arrested by the crime branch of Odisha Police in connection with the case and they are now in judicial custody.
The police teams arrested nine accused from Tamil Nadu, eight from Gujarat and seven from Rajasthan, the statement said.
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According to the complaint, the victim was added to a fraudulent WhatsApp group and lured into investing Rs 6.28 crore for promised high returns.
The victim was initially given shares worth Rs 19 each, which quickly inflated to Rs 110, raising the fund value to Rs 25 crore, the statement said.
When the complainant wanted to withdraw the money, the group admin allowed him to withdraw Rs 23 crore August 21 this year.
When he made an attempt to withdraw his funds, he was removed from that WhatsApp group and the application used for transactions was deactivated.
From the bank details and other documents collected during the investigation, the police identified the 29 accused people and arrested them, it said, adding further investigation was underway.
PTI