In a major success under the Centre’s ‘Cyber Kavach’ campaign, the Bhubaneswar Commissionerate Police has dismantled two organised cyber fraud syndicates operating in the capital city.
Seven people have been arrested in two separate cases, with police seizing luxury vehicles, electronic gadgets, and a large number of bank documents used to facilitate fraud.
In the first case, the Laxmisagar Police Station team arrested four members of a gang that had been running a mule bank account racket in the Laxmisagar area for the past two years. The accused were found to have links with national and international cyber fraudsters.
The arrested individuals are:
- Mayank Kumar (Jharkhand resident)
- Ranjan Kumar Sahu (27), originally from Ranpur in Nayagarh, currently residing in Satyanagar under Kharavel Nagar PS
- Nishikant Kar alias Bunu (28), from Gopa in Puri, currently residing in Santoshi Vihar under Laxmisagar PS
- Mohammad Sadiq Raja Khan (28), resident of Yadupur-Dumduma under Khandagiri PS
Police seized a black Mercedes-Benz car, a Renault Triber car, six mobile phones, 37 debit cards from various banks, 16 cheque books, an Apple MacBook Air laptop, an Apple iPad, Rs 8,500 in cash, and other incriminating documents. A case (No. 101/2026) has been registered at Laxmisagar Police Station.
According to police, the gang lured ordinary citizens with promises of easy money, opened bank accounts in their names using fake pre-activated SIMs, forged documents, and tampered KYC details, and then used these “mule accounts” to route money obtained through cyber fraud. The gang retained full control of the accounts, including passwords, email IDs, and net banking credentials.
In the second case, the Cyber Police Station arrested three persons running mule accounts linked to the controversial crypto trading platform Binance, suspected of having Chinese origins. The accused allegedly helped foreign fraudsters launder money through crypto transactions.
The arrested persons are:
- Sumit Kumar Padhi (26), originally from Bhimapura (Airport PS), currently residing in Padmabati Vihar under Chandrasekharpur PS
- Ajit Kumar Pradhan (26), from Chandagiri village in Mohana, Gajapati district, currently residing in ST & SC Development Office quarters under Capital PS
- Rajesh Kumar Nayak (26), resident of Forest Park under Airport PS
Police recovered seven mobile phones, four bank passbooks, 10 cheque books, 21 debit cards, 11 SIM cards, and personal documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, PAN, and RC book of Ajit Kumar Pradhan. A case (No. 23/2026) has been registered at Cyber Police Station.
Sumit Kumar Padhi, identified as the main accused, had opened verified accounts on Binance in 2022 for crypto trading. Several of his accounts were frozen between 2022–2023, and multiple cases were registered against him in states like Uttar Pradesh and Kerala. Despite this, he continued opening new accounts and was in contact with persons in the Middle East.
Twin City Police Commissioner S. Devdutt Singh described both operations as significant achievements in protecting citizens’ hard-earned money from cyber criminals. “Raids are continuing to nab other members of these networks,” he said. Additional Police Commissioner Narasingha Bhol and Bhubaneswar DCP Jagmohan Meena were also present at the press briefing.
Investigation in both cases is ongoing.
