Bhubaneswar: The Cyber Crime Unit of Odisha Crime Branch has arrested five persons, including a woman, from Surat in Gujarat in connection with an online investment fraud amounting to Rs 6.16 crore.

The arrested have been identified as Sejal Ravikumar Sabhaya (33), Sabhaya Ravi Kumanbhai (32), Sabhaya Kumanbhai (58), Paras Dhirubhai Jesani (32) and Dharmesh Nanubhai Savaliya (26) of Surat.

The accused had duped a person from Berhampur of Rs 6.16 crore in an online investment fraud, said the Crime Branch.

According to police, a woman, who identified herself as Sanjana Srinivasan, befriended with the Berhampur man on social media, last year.

The woman informed him that she was working as a software developer at IBM, Hong Kong.

She persuaded the Berhampur man to trade in digital currency on ZAIF. Accordingly, the victim had invested Rs 6.16 crore on online trading between May 23 and June 24, last year.

But, the victim was asked to deposit additional Rs 89 lakh when he tried to withdraw his money.

He lodged a complaint in this regard with the Cyber Crime Unit on July 9, 2024.

On the basis of the complaint, the Crime Branch registered a case under various Sections of the IPC and Information Technology Act and launched a probe into the fraud.

A team led by DSP Ratnaprava Satapathy arrested the accused and brought them to Odisha on transit remand after producing them in a local court in Surat.

The investigating team has seized several incriminating articles including a mobile phone. SIM cards, screenshots of chats in WhatsApp, Aadhar cards and a PAN card, bank passbooks, cheque books and debit cards from the arrested persons.  

The police have also frozen several bank accounts of the fraudsters.