Bhubaneswar, Aug 9 : The Odisha Crime Branch has arrested six cyber criminals involved in an online investment fraud from Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.

The criminals were part of an organized gang of cyber criminals who used to dupe gullible victims on the pretext of lucrative returns against online investments.

The arrested criminals were identified as Arun Shaju alias Henry Johnson, Seenu R and Vasu J from Tamil Nadu and Jaimin Kukdeja Megharajbhai, Brijesh Dayabhai Sathiya and Udaya Rameshbhai from Gujarat.

Crime Branch sources claimed that accused Arun and Jaimin opened bank accounts in their names and shared them with fraudsters to be used for fraudulent activities. Similarly, accused Vasu J, Seenu R and Udaya Rameshbhai were responsible for obtaining more mule accounts to facilitate the smooth transfer of stolen money. The accused person Brijesh would withdraw cash through cheques and hand it over to hawala operators in Gujarat for further distribution.

"On February 28, 2024, a resident of Bhubaneswar reported that as he had interest in share market trading, he had searched for investment opportunities on social media. In January 2024, he joined two WhatsApp groups that advertised trading apps called 'GSQT' and 'IBGINON'. He was encouraged by the group admins to open accounts on these apps using specific web links," said a senior Crime Branch official.

Accordingly, the complainant, from January 23 onwards, started depositing money into various accounts provided by the fraudsters.

Prompted by initial lucrative profits within a few days of the investments, the victim started making more online investments, even taking personal loans and borrowing from friends and family.

"By February 22, 2024, he had deposited a total of Rs 71.95 lakh into 10 different bank accounts. However, the profits he saw were only shown in digital wallets. But the fraudsters demanded more money, threatening that he would lose his investments and profits if he did not transfer the same," added the CB official.

The victim soon realised that he had been cheated by cyber criminals and filed a complaint with the Crime Branch that initiated a probe into the matter registering a case in this regard.

The Cyber Crime Unit of the Crime Branch managed to arrest the accused cyber criminals following the conduct of multiple raids in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.

Multiple teams of Cyber Crime Unit of the Crime Branch conducted raids in and apprehended the accused persons from Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.

/IANS