Bhubaneswar: In a breakthrough under the Cyber Kavach drive, Sambalpur police arrested two alleged operatives of an organised cyberfraud network from Delhi for duping a local businessman through a layered impersonation scam, police said on Sunday.Acting on leads, a team from the Cyber Crime and Economic Offences police station, Sambalpur, arrested Jagdish Kumar, 44, and Ram Ashre, 39, both residents of north Delhi for their alleged involvement in operating and facilitating mule bank accounts used in the fraud, the police said, adding further investigation is underway to trace the interstate network.According to the district police on Sunday, the case stemmed from suspicious transactions detected in a bank account held in the name of Sunishuddh Agro Pvt Ltd under Gobindpur police limits.On verification, the account holder, Achyutananda Patel, was found to be targeted by fraudsters who initiated contact via WhatsApp, placed a bogus bulk purchase order for farm equipment, and credited Rs 20.7 lakh to his account on Aug 5 and 14, 2025, as a purported advance.Police said the gang then pushed the victim into a series of cash withdrawals and transfers using a mix of business inducement, emergency-based manipulation and impersonation of politically connected and central agency-linked persons.Claiming a medical emergency in Kolkata, the accused allegedly made the complainant personally carry and hand over Rs 13 lakh in cash, asking him to retain Rs 2 lakh to create goodwill and trust, police said.Subsequently, a chain of bank transfers followed, including Rs 4.98 lakh moved to an account in the name of one Jagdish Kumar, Rs 7 lakh transferred in two tranches to another account, and multiple smaller sums routed to other accounts on the pretext of unblocking the victim’s business account.Investigators said the scammers escalated deception by name-dropping senior political figures and central investigating officials, sowing fear of legal consequences while promising to get the account unfrozen, thereby extracting additional payments.
