Cuttack, Odisha – The Cyber Crime and Economic Offences police have arrested three men from Rourkela for their alleged involvement in a cryptocurrency fraud that duped a victim of over Rs 13 lakh through a Telegram-based scam.
The accused have been identified as Abinash Ojha (35) of Basanti Colony, Jagan Sahoo (24) of Bandhamunda, and Pratik Chaurasia alias Sidharth (21) of Panposh. The trio was brought to Cuttack on Monday for a court hearing. Earlier, another associate, Arurag Pattnaik, was arrested on September 6 in connection with the case.
Investigations revealed that Abinash, a former employee of Paytm and NSDL, allegedly gathered personal documents, opened bank accounts, and sold these accounts to other fraudsters. Jagan, who worked with Airtel and Jio payment banks, reportedly collected and sold pre-activated SIM cards and bank account kits across Mumbai, Delhi, Gujarat, and Rajasthan. Pratik, an Airtel SIM card seller, supplied the pre-activated SIMs to both Abinash and Jagan.
The case highlights the growing sophistication of telecom and banking frauds tied to cryptocurrency scams, with criminals exploiting legitimate services for illegal gains.
