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Odisha crime branch arrests 8 persons from New Delhi & UP for cyber fraud

PT India News — Fri, 24 Nov 2023 15:42:15 +0000

Bhubaneswar: The Cyber Crime unit of Odisha Crime Branch has arrested 8 persons from New Delhi and Uttar Pradesh for allegedly duping people on the plea of lucrative insurance policy and loan.

The Crime Branch arrested the 8 persons on the basis of investigation into the complaint of Dillip Kumar Jalan, a resident of Bhubaneswar, that he and his wife had become victims of insurance fraud of Rs 76,15,955.

As per the complaint, Dilip’s wife had an HDFC life insurance policy with maturity value of Rs 20 lakh. In July, several unidentified persons contacted him from different mobile phone numbers to upgrade the policy. One such offer was to upgrade the existing policy to Rs 2.75 crore and facilitate an early release.

Convinced by the callers, Dilip deposited Rs 76,15,955 in four separate bank accounts in SBI (2), Kotak Mahindra (1) and Axis Bank (1) between July 5 and September 28 as per their directions.

He deposited Rs 28.73 lakh in SBI account of Pramoda Bali, Rs 8.32 lakh in SBI account of Tej Kumar, Rs 27.54 lakh in Axis Bank account of Kavya Singh and Rs 11.56 lakh in Kotak Mahindra account of Asish Kumar.

Crime branch & HROA meet on steps to check cyber frauds in hotel booking in Odisha

PT India News — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 15:48:09 +0000

Bhubaneswar: The CID-CB and the Hotel & Restaurants Owners’ Association (HROA) have decided to make collaborative efforts to curb cyber frauds in hotel booking.

At a meeting of senior officers of CID-CB and officer bearers of the HROA in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday, the ways to prevent and detect of such crimes were explored.

In the meeting, chaired by Arun Bothra, Additional DG of Police, CID-CB, it was revealed that the two recently registered cases of cyber fraud in hotel booking concerning two leading hotels of the state were not isolated incidents. There have been other reported and non-reported cases over a period of time.

With most of the travellers these days booking hotels online, the CID-CB has found that cyber criminals are creating fake websites of hotels in Odisha. They are specially targeting hotels in Puri where tourist flow is maximum. While travelers try to book room, these fake websites lead them to bank accounts of scammers for depositing money. When the tourists reach hotel with fake booking vouchers, they come to know about the scam.

It has been found that in most cases, the tourists leave without lodging a police complaint making it difficult for the police to take appropriate action. In view of growing number of such incidents it was decided to hold a meeting with the stakeholders.

Sh Shefeen Ahmed K, IGP; Sisir Mishra, Additional SP and Inspector Anila Anand attended the meeting. The delegates of HROA comprised JK Mohanty, Chairman, Jouathan Raul- VC, Srinivas Subudhi, working president, Ravi Narayan Sahoo, member, Sujit Ku Mahapatra, treasurer, Somanath Banarjee, member and KK Rao, executive secretary.

During a presentation in the meeting, the IG apprised about different kinds of cyber scams in hotel industry. Hotel owners were requested to collaborate with the police for prompt and better handling of such cases. They were sensitised to bring to the notice of police all the cyber-crimes cases concerning hotel room booking at the earliest for necessary legal action.

It was also decided to appoint nodal officers from both sides for prompt flow of information and swift action on the part of police. CID-CB will organize training session for hotel staff to update them about handling such cases and helping the tourists.

The Death of a Russian Lawmaker in Odisha: A Special Crime Branch Team Travels to Rayagada to Investigate

PT India News — Thu, 29 Dec 2022 15:35:06 +0000

Bhubaneswar: The Crime Branch of the Odisha Police dispatched a special team to Rayagada along with forensic specialists to further the investigation into the unsolved deaths of affluent Russian legislator Pavel Antov and his buddy.
The new unit consists of an inspector, a sub-inspector, and an assistant sub-inspector, and is led by DSP Saroj Kant Mohanto. Apart from that, two forensic investigators and photographers have been sent to Rayagada, where the occurrences occurred last week, to help the CID-CB team.
The team is tasked with going to the scene, interviewing the witnesses, locating and gathering evidence there and from the local police, as well as taking further action.
Vladimir Bidenov (62) was found dead inside the hotel room on December 22 while Antov (65), a friend, was discovered on December 24 lying in a pool of blood outside the Rayagada hotel building where they were staying. The two were travelling with two other Russians to the town in southern Odisha.
According to Crime Branch sources, a different CID-CB team has gathered some information throughout the course of its inquiry into the relatives of the deceased.
The CB team has further questioned their interpreter Jitendra Singh in an effort to confirm the timeline’s authenticity and compare it to the data they gathered from Russian citizens.
The detectives have also gathered copies of the paperwork related to their trip to India. According to them, the Russian visitors’ trip plans and reservations at various hotels, airlines, and travel agencies are being checked.
An effort is being made to gather the dead person’s medical records. The inquiry is still ongoing.
In addition to seeing the Kandhamal area, Antov, Bidenov, and the other two Russians had been to Odisha. From there, they made their way to Rayagada, where they slept at the Sai International Hotel.
Others believed that the Russian MP was very close to Videnov and may have fallen to his death after being unable to handle the loss. It is said that he went off the terrace of his third-floor hotel room.
The purpose of the wealthy lawmaker’s trip to Odisha with his buddies and their connections to the state are also being questioned.