In a major breakthrough, three students from Kalinga University—Abdul Aziz Bena, Mohammed Bashir Suleman, and Amin Garba—were arrested by Raipur police for their involvement in a multi-crore organized cyber fraud. All three suspects are of Nigerian origin and were operating an online cheating racket from their university hostel, where they used mule accounts to transfer money offshore.
The arrests were part of a larger operation called Cyber Shield, led by IG Raipur Range, IPS Amresh Mishra. This extensive operation uncovered a network of around 1,100 mule accounts, through which significant sums of extorted money had been funneled. A team of 100 officers worked on tracking down the true account holders. Alongside the three Kalinga University students, the operation led to the arrest of 62 other suspects, with 55 of them hailing from Chhattisgarh.
The investigation revealed that the students, along with other cyber criminals, were transferring funds from victims into offshore accounts, taking advantage of digital schemes such as cryptocurrency fraud and digital arrest tactics. The authorities also discovered that several individuals had allowed their bank accounts to be misused for depositing the fraudulent funds, in exchange for a commission from the criminals.
The operation led to raids across 40 locations in multiple states, including Chhattisgarh and Odisha, uncovering frauds amounting to Rs 85 crore, with 1,435 registered cases of cyber fraud. During the raids, approximately Rs 2 crore was frozen in the suspects’ bank accounts.
Kalinga University’s registrar, Dr. Sandeep Gandhi, confirmed the arrest of the three students and their involvement in the fraud. This is not the first time the university has faced scrutiny; it was previously linked to a fake degree scandal involving Nikhil Thomas in 2023.
Authorities continue to question individuals who allowed their accounts to be used in these fraudulent activities and are working to track down more criminals involved in the scam.
