Odisha Police Bust Inter-State Cyber Fraud Racket, 14 Arrested in Rourkela

Rourkela: In a major crackdown on cybercrime, Odisha Police have arrested 14 people, including two bank employees, for their alleged involvement in an inter-state cyber fraud and money laundering racket operating out of Rourkela.

DIG Brijesh Rai said all the accused hail from Sundargarh district and were engaged in defrauding victims through 28 bank accounts linked to the syndicate. The gang’s primary operation revolved around procuring and managing mule bank accounts—accounts opened in the names of local residents, mostly from Rourkela and nearby areas—to facilitate large-scale cyber fraud and conceal illicit transactions within India and abroad.

Investigations revealed that several of these accounts were opened with the complicity or negligence of bank staff, bypassing mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) norms. The accounts were held across multiple banks in Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Delhi, and Bihar, with international links traced to Dubai (UAE) and Nepal.

These mule accounts were allegedly sold or rented to cybercriminals nationwide for ₹8,000–₹10,000 each. The accounts acted as pass-through channels to receive fraudulent proceeds, layer transactions to obscure the money trail, and route funds domestically or overseas for laundering.

Police have registered a case (Rourkela CC and EO PS Case No. 17 dated August 9, 2025) under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the IT Act. Seized items include a car, a bullet motorcycle, 30 Aadhaar cards, 10 PAN cards, 17 bank passbooks, four cheque books, a laptop, and 15 mobile phones.

Authorities suspect the involvement of more bank employees and have launched further investigations.