Jharsuguda : In a major crackdown under Odisha Police’s ongoing “Cyber Kavach” special drive against cyber fraudsters, Jharsuguda police have busted an inter-state syndicate involved in laundering fraud proceeds through mule bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets. So far, fraudulent transactions linked to the cases have crossed Rs. 14 crore, police said on Saturday.
Under Belpahar police limits, six accused persons were arrested, registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 66(C) of the IT Act, 2000.
Police identified the alleged mastermind as Himanshu Kumar Shrivastav (33) a resident of Flat No. 12A-178, Tower-23, Marvella, Mahagun Mywoods, G.N. West, Gautam Budh Nagar, Uttar Pradesh.
The other accused include Paramananda Das (38) of Nuapada (Brajrajnagar), Stifan Bastaraya (37) of Belpahar, Tanoj Pradhan(40) of Lamtibahal, Kedar Pradhan(40) of Pudapali, and Bhima Munda(30) of IB Jamera in Jharsuguda district.
During searches, police seized a Dell Latitude laptop, eight mobile handsets – including devices with Binance crypto apps installed – international and domestic SIM cards (including Sri Lankan and Thai numbers), 10 ATM/debit cards, eight bank passbooks and cheque books linked to multiple enterprises, an Indian passport, PAN and Aadhaar cards, and other financial documents.
While in another Cyber case, Laikera police arrested one Dilu @ Ishwar Daruan (24), an employee of a small finance bank in Jharsuguda, for allegedly opening bank accounts door-to-door in different villages in collusion with cyber fraudsters. Police said accounts were opened in a Sundargarh branch despite account holders belonging to Jharsuguda to conceal the transfer of fraud proceeds.
Police seized his bank identity card, two mobile phones, including one used for opening accounts, and visiting cards.
Jharsuguda SP G.R. Raghavendra said, “The accused used mule bank accounts and crypto wallets such as Binance and Bybit to mask the source and destination of funds, facilitating laundering and transnational cyber fraud schemes. Till Now the fraudulent transactions in both the cases are more than 14 Crores. However, further investigation is underway to trace additional links and financial trails.”
