Bhubaneswar: The Cyber Crime unit of Odisha Crime Branch (CB) has arrested as many as 15 persons involved in a series of cybercrime cases across the country.

The cyber criminals were also involved in incidents of Crypto, Stock and IPO investment fraud.

The cyber criminals were cheating people by promising high returns in various investment schemes. They lured gullible investors with lucrative offers and persuaded them to make investment by way of transfer of funds into the accounts of cyber fraudsters.

The arrested persons include masterminds Tushar Sharma and Bhavesh Thakur from Delhi.

The other accused persons have been identified as Ranjit Kumar Bal of Kendrapada, Dillip Kumar Lenka of Balasore, Sunil Prasad of Ganjam, and Bishikesan Padhy from Rayagada, Kalandi Singh & Sudhansu Bhusan Pattanaik from Khordha, Udaybhanu Ghadei of Bhubaneswar, Jiten Barad of Nayagarh, Bharat Bhusan Chakra of Jagatsinghpur, Bikash Chandra Rout & Uttam Kumar Sahu of Bhadrak, Satya Ranjan Sahoo from Balasore and Amit Kumar Rout of Ganjam, said the Crime Branch ADG Arun Bothra here today.

These cyber criminals used to establish contact with gullible people through social media and invite them to join WhatsApp or Telegram groups for discussions on issues trading and investment.

Subsequently, the victims were enticed into opening fake trading accounts with promise of high returns. But, the investors were prevented to make any withdrawal from their trading accounts. The cyber criminals were collecting huge sums from the investors in the guise of processing fees and other charges. Ultimately, the victims were defrauded of significant amount, which were subsequently transferred to the crypto accounts of all involved criminals, said Bothra while revealing the modus operandi of the gang.

The accused persons arrested from Odisha had opened bank accounts in their name and these accounts were used for the transfer of the ill-gotten money, he added.

A person from Bhubaneswar had lodged a complaint with the Cyber Union of CB after he was cheated by the gang.

The victim had transferred Rs 3.04 crore to the accounts specified by the cyber fraudsters till June 11 this year. However, he could not get back the money despite repeated attempts.

The Cyber Police had registered a case in this regard under various Sections of IPC and Information Technology Act-2000 and initiated a probe in this regard.

During investigation, the Cyber Police came to know about the above said and gang and their modus operandi, Bothra said.

The Cyber Police have seized 20 mobile phones, 42 SIM cards, 20 Debit cards, three cheque books, three PAN cards and five ADHAAR cards from the arrested persons.