STF busts inter-state racket of mule bank accounts in Odisha; three arrested

Bhubaneswar: A Special Task Force (STF) of the Odisha Crime Branch yesterday busted an inter-state racket of mule bank accounts after conducting raids at different locations in Bhubaneswar. Three persons were arrested in this connection, an STF source said today.

The arrested are namely Sk Hapizul, son of Sk Jafar Hussain from Olamara in Barhampur under Raibania police limits of Balasore district and at present staying in Rasulgarh of Bhubaneswar; Sk Jahangir, son of Sk Jania from Olamara; and Sk Jamiruddin son of Sk Jamaluddin from Rampura under Mohanpur police limits in West Medinapur district of West Bengal.

Based on an intelligence input that a huge racket was running mule bank accounts, STF conducted raids, and three scammers were arrested. During the raid, various incriminating materials such as mobile phones, pre-activated SIM cards, bank passbooks, Aadhaar cards etc were seized from their possession.

In this connection, STF PS case (No-24/2023, U/s 419/420/465/467/468/471/120(B)/34 IPC r/w. 66 C and 66 D of the IT Act, 2000, dated 18.10.2023) was registered and a detailed probe initiated.

The scammers will be forwarded to the court of SDJM in Bhubaneswar, later in the day.

This racket was active mainly in the tri-junction area of Odisha, Jharkhand, and West Bengal, especially, in the districts of Balasore, Mayurbhanj, East Midnapore, West Midnapore, East Singhbhum, West Singhbhum and Saraikela, a press release of the STF mentioned.

The racket is headed by Sk Jamiruddin of West Midnapore, West Bengal. He has employed around 10 to 15 people at the rate of 15,000 per month to open bank accounts. These members visit various interior areas of these districts targeting mainly poor villagers and tribals. The scammers persuade and lure them to open the bank accounts.

Villagers are generally offered Rs 2,000 per account for giving their documents and opening bank accounts. However, the mobile numbers linked with bank accounts are provided by gang members. The rate of 2,000 per account differs depending on the bargaining and awareness level of a villager.

In turn, the gang sells these bank accounts along with the connected mobile numbers to various cyber, cyber-financial, sextortion scammers and other criminals based in Kolkata and other parts of India.

They also use social media platforms like secret WhatsApp groups, Facebook pages, and Telegram channels to sell the mule bank accounts. They sell mule bank accounts at the rate of Rs 15,000 to 20,000 per account. So far, they have sold around 5,000 mule bank accounts on different platforms.

It has also come to the notice that the scammers frequently change bank accounts. Generally, they abandon the accounts once they reach a transaction of Rs 1 lakh. Sometimes, the accounts get frozen even before that by concerned banks at the request of police and Law enforcement agencies.