Bhubaneswar, Aug 24 (IANS) The Odisha Crime Branch has arrested two fraudsters from Punjab and Andhra Pradesh in two separate cyberfraud cases involving more than Rs 7 crore, a senior official said on Sunday.

The sleuths on August 21 arrested a 41-year-old person from Ludhiana in Punjab for duping a Berhampur-based businessman of Rs 6.16 crore on the pretext of lucrative returns on the investments in digital currency exchange trade.

The accused identified as Bittu Kumar, who originally hails from Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh, is currently staying at Ludhiana in Punjab.

The victim came in contact with the accused fraudsters through a social media platform in June 2024.

“They (fraudsters) persuaded him to trade in Initial Public Offering (IPO) and Over-the-Counter (OTC), USDT leading him to transfer Rs 6,16,37,084. Despite initial losses, he was convinced to invest more. When the victim attempted to withdraw his money from the virtual account, they demanded additional money and refused to release his funds,” the senior official added.

The businessman soon realised that he had fallen prey to the cyber scamsters and filed an FIR at the Cyber Crime police station of the Odisha Crime Branch in July 2024.

Based on his complaint, the crime branch registered a FIR on July 9, 2024, and launched an investigation into the incident.

The investigating team led by the Deputy Superintendent of Police Ratnaprava Satpathy after analysing the transaction details and working upon other digital evidence finally arrested the accused fraudster Kumar from Ludhiana on Thursday.

Different incriminating materials such as mobile phones, SIMs, debit cards, etc were seized from the possession of Kumar.

In another case, the Odisha Crime Branch has arrested one cybercriminal from Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh for duping a person of more than Rs 1 crore on the pretext of investment in IPO and OTC trading.

The accused was identified as Sudheer Kumar, 33, of Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh.

He is currently staying at Guntur district.

–IANS

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