Police arrested 12 in Rs 38.88 lakh cyber fraud

Barbil: Cyber police of Keonjhar district arrested 12 persons and produced them in Barbil court Saturday in connection with a cyber fraud involving Rs 38.88 lakh.

The accused have been identified as Amal Kumar Nayak of Khajurikhaman village under Barkote PS in Deogarh district, Abinash Nayak from Talcher Thermal area under Colliery PS in Angul district, Amit Gochhayat of Balanda village, Subhendu Behera from Jagannathpur village, Vivekananda Yadav of Nehru Nagar under Bolangir Town PS, Akash Bag of Ganrei village under Muribahal PS, Jamil Akhtar and Sheikh Mustakin from Chadak Mohalla under Bhadrak PS, Sheikh Saif Kadri from Puruna Bazar in Bhadrak, Punit Kumar of Khawad village under Dhanaura PS in Amroha district of Uttar Pradesh, MD Anwar of F-64 area under Nariman Vihar PS in east Delhi and Sadre Alam of Pali village under Ghanshyampur PS in Bihar.

According to reports, a businessman named Pradeep Kumar Dubey, a resident of the Sundarabasti area in Barbil, received a WhatsApp link on his mobile phone for online trading from a company named ‘Jep Morjen’ in October 2024.

Pradeep registered through the link and deposited a total of Rs 38.88 lakh in several instalments since November 6, 2024, into the bank account provided by the company.

Later, when Pradeep tried to withdraw the deposited money online in December 2024, he was asked to deposit an additional 30 per cent of the amount, which raised suspicion in his mind.

Upon investigating further, Pradeep discovered that the company was fraudulent and filed a complaint with the cyber police in Keonjhar.

Based on the complaint, Keonjhar Cyber Crime and Economic Offence Police registered a case (31/2024) December 5, 2024, and began a probe.

PNN

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