Cuttack: A Sambalpur court has sentenced a 32-year-old man to two years’ rigorous imprisonment for operating a mule bank account allegedly used to facilitate cyber fraud.The JMFC court of Sambalpur district convicted Gauri Shankar Dash under Sections 317(2) and 112(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 under each section. The sentences will run concurrently. Dash will undergo an additional two months’ rigorous imprisonment for each fine that he fails to pay.According to Odisha police, Dash’s bank account was identified through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) during the investigation. The account had received four suspicious deposits of Rs 9,000, Rs 11,500, Rs 9,000 and Rs 4,050, totalling Rs 33,550.Sambalpur Town police registered a case on March 2 and arrested Dash the same day. A primary chargesheet was filed on April 28. “We have adopted a zero-tolerance policy against cyber fraudsters as well as those who knowingly provide or operate mule accounts. Such accounts are an important link in the cyber fraud chain, and Odisha police will continue to dismantle these networks through scientific investigation and effective prosecution,” said Yogesh Bahadur Khurania, director general of police.During the trial, the prosecution examined five witnesses and submitted bank records, seizure documents and other evidence.
