Bargarh: In a major breakthrough, police in Odisha's Bargarh district have arrested three more accused persons in a cyber fraud case. With this, the total number of arrests has gone up to nine. Earlier, six individuals had been taken into custody for their alleged involvement in the racket.

As per reports, the accused targeted innocent people by luring them with promises of easy money in exchange for opening bank accounts. Once the accounts were created, they were allegedly used by fraudulent organisations to siphon off funds. The alleged mastermind of the fraud, Manoj Kumar Kushal, was reportedly working at a shopping mall in Bargarh while carrying out the illegal activities.

Crackdown part of Operation Cyber Kavach

During the operation, Town Police seized 57 passbooks from different banks, 19 cheque books, 81 ATM cards, 26 SIM cards, two mobile phones, ₹6,700 in cash, and a scooter. Officials revealed that the 57 bank accounts collectively held transactions exceeding ₹10 crore. The crackdown is part of a special statewide drive titled Operation Cyber Kavach, launched recently under the direction of the Director General of Police to dismantle mule networking across the State. As part of the operation, a 15-member special team formed by Bargarh Police has intensified its crackdown on account-related fraud across various locations in the district.

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