Odisha Crime Branch Nabs 7 Cyber Fraudsters From K’taka, TN; Conned Senior BJD Leader Of Rs 1.4 Cr

Bhubaneswar: Seven inter-state cyber fraudsters were arrested by the Crime Branch of Odisha Police for conning a senior BJD leader and former minister of Rs 1.4 crore. The cheats conned the leader on the pretext of high returns against investment in IPOs and OTC trading.

The accused fraudsters were nabbed at different locations in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu between March 25 till March 28.

The accused were identified as Jyothi Raju (39), Raju C (34), Ismail Rahaid (27), Vasim (28) of Karnataka, and Pattaraja S (34), Jegatheesh Radhakrishnan (40), E Sakthikumaravel (50) of Tamil Nadu.

As per reports, the BJD leader had registered a complaint at the Cyber Crime Police Station of crime branch on January 13, 2025 regarding this cheating.

He had come in contact with the fraudsters through a social media. They persuaded him to invest in IPOs and OTC trading through lures of high return. Between November 13, 2024, and January 1, 2025, the BJD leader transferred a total of Rs 1,40,00,000 to fraudsters. Despite initial losses, the fraudsters convinced him to invest further. However, when he attempted to withdraw his funds, they demanded additional payments and refused to release his money,” the Crime Branch said in its press release.

The former minister soon realised that he had been trapped by the fraudsters and filed a complaint with the crime branch.

Based on his complaint, the police registered a case under sections 318(4), 319(2), 336(2), 336(3), 338, 340(2), 61(2), and 3(5) of the BNS, and 66-C, 66-D of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and arrested the accused. The accused persons were brought on transit remand and produced before the court in Odisha on Sunday.

Multiple bank accounts of the fraudsters have been frozen. The crime branch is making efforts to recover the total amount conned by the arrested men.