Odisha: Three fraudsters held for duping investor of Rs 13.72 lakh

Bhubaneswar, Sep 15 (PTI) Odisha Police arrested three persons for allegedly defrauding an investor of Rs 13.72 lakh through a fake online investment scheme, officials said on Monday.

The accused were identified as Abinash Ojha (35), Jagan Sahoo (24) and Pratik Chaurasia (21), all residents of Rourkela in Sundargarh district, police said.

A senior police officer said the complainant had come across an attractive investment opportunity advertised on social media in May. The fraudsters allegedly promised double returns and convinced him to transfer money.

Trusting the fraudsters' claims, the complainant transferred Rs 13.72 lakh from May 16 to 29. Later, the complainant realised that the scheme was fraudulent and lodged a complaint at Cuttack cyber police station, the officer said.

During investigation, police tracked down the accused in Rourkela and, with the help of local police, apprehended them.

"Following all due legal procedures, the three were brought to Cuttack on Monday for court production," the officer added.

Police have seized six mobile phones, 10 passbooks, three Aadhaar cards and three cheque books from their possession, besides freezing 39 bank accounts with deposits of around Rs 2 lakh.

Earlier, Anurag Pattanaik (21), another accused in the case, was arrested from Rourkela on September 6.

Further investigation is going on, police added. PTI BBM BBM MNB