Jharsuguda: Jharsuguda police have arrested a 24-year-old man on Sunday for his alleged involvement in a cybercrime racket that used “mule accounts” to receive and transfer proceeds from online fraud.
Police identified the accused as Prateek Singh (24), a resident of Telugupada in Railway Colony under Government Railway Police Station limit, Jharsuguda.
Police said Singh had been absconding since the case was registered on November 17, 2025, in an attempt to evade arrest. After a prolonged search, police received reliable information about his whereabouts and apprehended him.
Jharsuguda SP G R Raghavendra said, “Members of the racket allegedly targeted residents and offered them cash in exchange for opening bank accounts. The account holders were then persuaded to hand over complete banking kits, including ATM cards, passbooks and internet banking credentials. These kits were allegedly handed over to other syndicate members or sent to contacts operating in larger cities and other states. The accounts were subsequently used as mule accounts to receive, transfer and withdraw money generated through cyber fraud, making it difficult for investigating agencies to trace the flow of funds and identify the actual offenders.”
“We appeal to citizens not to open bank accounts or surrender their ATM cards, passbooks, internet banking details, one-time passwords or other banking credentials to strangers in exchange for money,” he added.
Police are investigating the wider network linked to the racket and attempting to identify other individuals whose accounts may have been used for illegal transactions.
- Police also warned that allowing an account to be used for suspicious transactions could implicate the account holder in cyber fraud cases and lead to severe legal consequences.
