Cuttack: In a major breakthrough in an online investment fraud involving over ₹5.14 crore, the Cyber Crime Police of the Odisha State Crime Branch have arrested two persons from Darjeeling district of West Bengal.

The accused have been identified as Kiran Gurung from Siliguri and Randheer Kumar Ray from Pradhan Nagar, both in Darjeeling.

According to the complaint, the victim was lured by unidentified cyber fraudsters to invest in the stock market through a fake online trading platform with promises of high returns. Trusting the claims, the complainant transferred a total of ₹5.14 crore to multiple bank accounts over a period of 20 days starting March 17, 2025, as instructed by the fraudsters.

Initially, the victim was shown fictitious profits on the platform to build confidence. However, when he attempted to withdraw the returns, the fraudsters denied the request and demanded additional payments.

Realising the fraud, the victim reported the incident to the Cyber Crime Helpline (1930) to block the accounts and later lodged a formal complaint at the Cyber Crime Police Station, CID-CB, Odisha, in Cuttack.

The case was registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Information Technology Act, 2000.

Following registration, the investigating team analysed the money trail, bank transactions, and other digital evidence. Based on the findings, a raid was conducted in Darjeeling, leading to the arrest of the two accused.

Modus Operandi

Investigators revealed one of the accounts used was a joint account in the first layer of the transaction chain, involving four individuals, and had received ₹49.1 lakh out of the total defrauded amount.

Police also seized several incriminating materials from the accused, including mobile phones, SIM cards, Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, and other documents suspected to have been used in the fraud.

Both accused were produced before the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate in Siliguri and granted transit remand. They are being brought to Odisha and will be produced before the SDJM court in Bhubaneswar.

Officials said the accused were part of a larger network involved in running fraudulent investment schemes and routing defrauded money through multiple bank accounts.

Further investigation is underway to identify other members of the racket, trace the remaining funds, and uncover the full extent of the network.