Bolangir police arrested two middlemen linked to a cybercrime gang that operated by opening fake bank accounts using Aadhaar details of innocent villagers.
The arrests exposed a large-scale fraud involving crores of rupees.
SP Abhilash G informed at a press conference that the accused, Debashish Kanti and Soumyaranjan Kabat of Chudapali village, collected Aadhaar cards from villagers and opened accounts in their names. They then controlled these accounts and used them to channel money from cybercriminals based outside Odisha.
Police seized bank passbooks, chequebooks, debit cards, POS machines, mobile phones, SIM cards, and a four-wheeler from the accused. Investigations revealed that over 300 accounts were used for transactions worth crores, mainly through Balangir branches of UCO Bank.
The accused reportedly received Rs 10,000–Rs 20,000 per account from cybercriminals for facilitating transactions. Many of these accounts were opened as current and business accounts, raising suspicion of collusion by some bank officials and employees. Police are probing this angle further.
SP Abhilash G urged citizens not to share Aadhaar, PAN, or personal documents with unknown persons. He stressed that cyber gangs exploit such details to commit fraud and launder money.
