Balangir police bust Rs 5 crore digital fraud racket, arrest two for mule account network

Balangir/Bhubaneswar: Two men were arrested by Balangir police on Friday for allegedly operating a large-scale digital fraud racket that routed more than Rs 5 crore through multiple mule bank accounts over the past seven months.

The accused have been identified as Debasis Kanti, 31, and Ranjan Kabat, 21, both residents of Chudapali village under Sadar police station limits. Police claimed the duo helped create one of the region’s biggest networks of mule accounts, with illicit transactions channelled through them.


DIG (northern range) Himanshu Lal said a specialised team, including cyber cell officers, acted on the DGP’s directives to bust the syndicate. “The gang was using mule bank accounts belonging to various individuals in Balangir to launder proceeds of multiple cyber frauds,” he said, adding that the full scale and nature of fraud are still being probed.

Balangir SP, Abilash G, said officers began investigating after spotting suspicious, high-value transactions. When they contacted the supposed account holders, the individuals claimed they were unaware about such accounts but admitted they had handed over their documents to the accused for some work. “This led police to Debasis and Ranjan, who supplied mule accounts to the syndicate in return for a commission,” he said.

Police said that mule accounts function as conduits for cybercriminals. These accounts are shared with victims, who transfer money believing the transactions are legitimate. Criminals then use local agents to withdraw the funds.

Investigators found that Debasis allegedly worked closely with a West Bengal-based handler, Nirbhaya Gupta, to supply “hundreds of fraudulent bank accounts” to cybercrime networks. Gupta is suspected to be part of a larger interstate gang. Efforts are underway to arrest him and others linked to the racket. Police said Debasis also roped in his associate Soumya Ranjan for acquiring and creating the mule accounts used to launder money from online scams.

A raid on the accused’s premises led to the recovery of a large cache of financial and electronic evidence. The seizure includes 29 bank passbooks, 15 cheque books, 10 debit cards, a POS terminal, 8 mobile phones, 5 SIM cards, and a car believed to have been used for the illegal operations.

Investigators said Debasis acted as the key link between local account providers and larger cybercrime networks operating out of Bengal. A police team is being sent to Bengal to trace and arrest other members of the syndicate.

Police suspect the racket supplied accounts to cybercriminals running investment scams, task-based frauds, fake loan applications, and customer-support impersonation scams, among others. A detailed financial trail analysis is underway to identify where the illegal proceeds ultimately went and who benefited.Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Valentine's day wishes, messages and gift idea !