Odisha EOW busts fake pan-India drug courier scam; one arrested

Police the incident took place in July last year. The cyber fraudsters, posing as courier staff and NCB officials, ripped her off of Rs.1.5 lakh

Published on: Feb 7, 2024, 21:11:26 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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Bhubaneshwar: The Odisha Police Economic Offences Wing (EOW) busted a pan-India drug courier fraud and arrested one person in connection, officials said on Wednesday.

EOW inspector general (IG) Jai Narayan Pankaj said his team arrested one Rajat Kumar of Haryana from Himachal Pradesh based on a complaint filed by Ratna Tripathy, a Bhubaneswar-based journalist after she was allegedly ripped off by a gang of cyber crooks posing as delivery courier staff and officials of Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB).

Police the incident took place in July last year. The cyber fraudsters, posing as courier staff and NCB officials, ripped her off of Rs.1.5 lakh.

The IG said that Kumar is not the main accused, however, they have got details of the people who are running the scam sitting in Dubai.

The amount deposited by the journalist landed in mule accounts of Jagdamba Enterprises in Punjab run by Kumar which was then transferred to other bank accounts, he said.

“The money was being routed through Kumar’s accounts to several other accounts. EOW has got vital clues about the masterminds of this scam and the fraudsters sitting in Dubai. Efforts are on to arrest them. So far 17 incriminating bank accounts have been frozen in this case,” the IG said.

It was also found that the scammers, in just a span of 2-3 days, extorted Rs.5.58 crores from several victims across the country using one single account, officials said. However, the money was further transferred to different mule accounts and ultimately a major chunk of this amount was withdrawn in Dubai.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More