Balasore: Police on Tuesday arrested four men in Balasore district for allegedly operating a network of mule bank accounts used in online fraud cases across multiple states.The accused were identified as Goutam Kumar Das, Rabindra Kumar Majhi, Kartik Singh and Dinakrushna Behera. They were detained from Khantapada in Balasore district.Additional SP Gayatri Pradhan said the action was part of ‘Cyber Kavach’ special drive targeting the misuse of bank accounts. During verification, investigators uncovered that the accused were allegedly operating multiple current and savings accounts opened in the names of unsuspecting individuals. These accounts were reportedly sold or rented to fraudsters operating in other states.Police said the arrests were made in connection with a case registered at cyber crime & economic offence police station this month under sections 319(2), 318(4), 111(3) and 3(5) of BNS, along with sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the IT Act.Police seized 49 cheque leaves, 147 ATM/debit cards, 4 passbooks, 3 PAN cards, a driving licence, a vehicle registration certificate (RC), a voter ID card, 4 mobile phones, and a car from them.Police said the four seized mobile phones contained evidence of suspicious bank transactions and access to digital payment platforms, including UPI applications and net banking credentials. “The devices allegedly held multiple email IDs used to link and manage mule accounts,” the ASP said.Pradhan further said that 25 complaints had been registered against accounts linked to the accused on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. The total fraudulent transactions traced to the accounts amounted to around Rs 58 lakh.She said further investigation is underway to identify interstate links and other beneficiaries of the fraud network. She urged citizens to remain cautious while sharing banking details and to promptly report suspicious transactions.
