Bhubaneswar, February 8: The Odisha Commissionerate Police has arrested a man from West Bengal in connection with an investment fraud case. The accused allegedly defrauded a Bhubaneswar resident of over ₹5 million through online trading.
The suspect has been identified as 46-year-old Arbind Paul, a resident of Mongra in Hooghly district, West Bengal. Police claim that Paul is the primary beneficiary of the fraudulent amount.
According to police sources, the accused is also linked to several other cyber fraud cases registered in different parts of the country.
The arrest was made based on a written complaint filed by 68-year-old Bhagirathi Mohanta, a resident of Tamando in Bhubaneswar, at the cyber crime and Economic Offenses Police Station.
In his complaint, Mohanta alleged that the fraudsters contacted him via a WhatsApp group, luring him into investing in online trading with promises of high returns.
As per the complaint, he received an invitation from a WhatsApp group named SMC SIT III WII Group and joined it on October 8, 2024.
Following the advice of one of the fraudsters, Kriti Gupta, who acted as a group admin, Mohanta opened a trading account with SMC Capital Customer Care Unit.
Meanwhile, under the direction of the service manager, Mohanta deposited his hard-earned ₹5.016 million into various bank accounts shared by the fraudsters.
Police sources revealed that the accused misled the victim by claiming that these bank accounts belonged to legitimate companies.
However, during the investigation, officials discovered that the account numbers provided by the accused were not affiliated with any major company.
In fact, these bank accounts were operated by cyber fraudsters, who used them for daily transactions amounting to millions of rupees.
The complainant had deposited nearly ₹100,000 into Paul’s bank account.