Bhubaneswar, May 22 (IANS) The Odisha Police has arrested a cyber fraudster from West Bengal for extorting over Rs 73 lakhs from one victim from Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district through digital arrest fraud, informed the state Crime Branch on Thursday.

The accused, identified as Rohit Kumar Jaiswal (26), is a resident of the Howrah area in West Bengal.

The complainant, who works in a private company, lodged the report regarding the fraud at the Cyber Crime Police Station of Odisha Crime Branch on May 15, 2024.

The victim alleged that unknown cyber fraudsters impersonating officials of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Delhi Police contacted him and falsely claimed that one parcel booked in his name has been confiscated by Delhi Customs which contains a bunch of ATM Cards, 15 Indian Passports, two Laptops, four kg Cloth and MDMA drugs.

The cyber criminals falsely claimed that the parcel confiscated by Delhi customs was dispatched from Chandni Chowk, New Delhi, to Shanghai (China).

The complainant, who was put under digital arrest for six days, transferred Rs 73,62,000 to the bank accounts given by the accused persons to prove himself innocent and get out of any legal complications.

Upon receipt of the complaint, the crime branch launched a probe into the matter and arrested the accused Jaiswal from neighbouring West Bengal.

The crime branch, during investigation, ascertained that the fraudsters, identifying themselves as DHL employee, CBI and Delhi Police personnel, have extorted Rs 73,62,000 from the victim.

The investigating team have seized various incriminating articles, including mobile phones, SIM cards, Aadhar cards, etc, from the possession of the accused Jaiswal and also froze bank accounts of fraudsters.

The accused Jaiswal have been brought on transit remand to Odisha and will be produced before the court on Friday.

–IANS

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