Champua, Feb 28: As part of its ongoing "Cyber Kavach" initiative, Odisha Police has arrested five cybercriminals in the Champua area of Odisha’s Keonjhar district. The arrested individuals were found with 13 debit cards, 2 PAN cards, and 6 mobile phones, which were seized during the operation.

The arrested criminals are identified as Sawan Machhua from Jharkhand's Chaibasah Thana, Jakriya Debgan from Mahulasahir, Krishna Lohar and Hemanta Lohar from Shankarpur in the Champua area, and Deepak Kumar Munda from Tunglei Sahir.

According to police reports, the accused had been involved in opening and transferring funds to several mule bank accounts used by cybercriminals based in Jharkhand. These accounts were exploited to carry out large-scale cyber fraud, siphoning off millions of rupees through fraudulent activities. The criminals reportedly earned significant commissions for managing these accounts.

The investigation into the illicit financial activities is ongoing, with police working to trace the flow of funds and uncover the full scale of the cybercrime syndicate’s operations.

Sources within the police department revealed that the mastermind behind the operation is believed to be operating from Jharkhand. Champua SDPO Rashmiranjan Sahu confirmed that further investigations are underway to dismantle the entire network and take appropriate action against all those involved.