One held as trader duped of Rs 2.06 cr

Bhubaneswar: TheCrime Branch of Odisha Police has arrested a 31-year-old cyber criminal from Bihar for his alleged involvement in Rs 2.06 crore investment fraud case, informed a senior police official on Friday. The accused was identified as Prins Raj of Ratanapur in Begusarai district of Bihar. The accused fraudster was arrested in connection with a case registered at the Crime Branch Cyber Police Station on March 28, 2025, based on a complaint lodged by a Bhubaneswar-based businessman.

The victim businessman revealed in his complaint that unidentified cyber fraudsters contacted him on the popular social media platform WhatsApp on December 23, 2024.

Subsequently, the complainant was allegedly auto-joined in a WhatsApp group.

He further informed that a person impersonated a fund manager of a reputed company, offered his help and persuaded the businessman to invest money in the share market through a fake trading platform. The group provided free stock market advice and daily technical analysis of NIFTY.

The Crime Branch sources revealed that, between December 23, 2024 and March 24, 2025, the businessman had transferred a total Rs 2, 06, 07,500 from three different bank accounts to five different accounts linked to the cyber criminals in 54 transactions.

“When he wanted to withdraw money, the risk control team refused to release his funds on one pretext or another. Then he realised that he had been a victim of a well-planned conspiracy by unknown cyber fraudsters. So he lodged an FIR at Cyber Crime Police Station,” added the senior official.

Acting on the complaint, the police launched an investigation and arrested the accused Raj from Begusarai in Bihar on Wednesday night. Raj received Rs 40 lakh out of the total defrauded amount of Rs 2.06 crore.

The accused is being brought to Odisha on transit remand and will be produced before the Court of the Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM), Bhubaneswar.