Sambalpur: Busting a major cyber fraud racket, police have arrested as many as nine persons in Odisha's Sambalpur district for allegedly operating multiple mule bank accounts for fraudulent transactions to the tune of lakhs. The main accused Anil Kumar Mandal (37) is a resident of Jharkhand's Jamtara, known for its thriving cyber crime ecosystem and phishing scams. All others are from Sambalpur. 
Police said Mandal had opened 35 mule bank accounts across various banks. Of these, around Rs 50 lakh was credited to 15 mule accounts. Investigation further revealed that Mandal had convinced individuals to open bank accoounts in their names by luring them with the promise of easy money upto Rs 5,000 as commission for every transaction. Once the accounts were operational, he would collect the passbooks, ATM cards, and PIN numbers to carry out fraudulent activities. 
Following his arrest, as many as 22 ATM cards, five SIMs, two cheque books, mobile phones and Aadhaar cards have been recovered from his possession. The fake Aadhaar cards had Mandal's photo with different contact numbers which established the use of forged identities to operate the racket.
Confirming the arrests, Sambalpur police said Mandal was operating the racket from Jamtara. On getting credible input, he was apprehended near Ainthapali bus stand on September 21. Mandal was produced in court and brought on three-day police remand during which he revealed the names of 16 account holders allegedly involved in the scam.
"The main accused opened several mule accounts with forged documents. He targeted people in Sambalpur and managed to lure them with commissions for every transaction. First, Rs 5,000 was paid to the account holders to open mule accounts. Later, they got commission on transactions which could go up to more than a crore," said SP Mukesh Bhamoo. 
He added that a case has been registered under relevant sections of the BNS and efforts have been stepped up to nab all other accused involved in the racket.