0Bhadrak (25 February 2026): Bhadrak police have busted a cyber fraud racket involving transactions of around ₹2.5 crore and arrested five accused after identifying five mule bank accounts used by cyber criminals.
Addressing a press conference, Bhadrak Additional SP Arup Abhishek Behera said the arrests were made during the investigation of two separate cyber fraud cases.
According to police, Jagabandhu Keshri of Khaira area in Balasore district had opened a current account in the name of Ahalya Enterprises at the ADFC Bank branch in Jagannathpur, Bhadrak. The account came under suspicion after nearly ₹1.56 crore worth of transactions were detected.
The bank’s branch manager received a complaint regarding the account through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. On verification, it was found that around ₹1.50 crore had been deposited into the account through eight credit cards and later transferred to various accounts in 75 instalments. Following a complaint lodged by branch manager Debashish Parida, Town Police registered a case (No. 694/25), and IIC Prabhanshu Sekhar Mishra initiated an investigation. Jagabandhu Keshri was subsequently arrested.
Meanwhile, under the State Police’s Operation Kavach, a district-wide probe was launched into mule bank accounts being used for cyber fraud. Acting as the nodal officer, Inspector Dayanidhi Das examined suspicious accounts across multiple banks and reported four such mule accounts to Town Police. Based on the report, another case (No. 17/26) was registered, leading to the arrest of four account holders — Mozafar Khan, Ranjit Panda, Debashish Nayak, and Satyaranjan Das.
Police said suspicious transactions of ₹19.5 lakh, ₹29 lakh, ₹39 lakh, and ₹9 lakh, totaling ₹96 lakh, were detected in these accounts. Investigators have found evidence linking all the accused to cyber fraud activities.
All five accused have been forwarded to court. Police have seized five mobile phones, ATM cards of various banks, and Aadhaar cards from their possession.
Further investigation is underway to identify other members of the network and trace additional financial links in the cyber fraud operation.
