30/11/2025
Rourkela Police has cracked a major cybercrime racket involving mule bank accounts that were being used to move money for cybercriminals across India.
The gang opened bank accounts in the names of local people, often using forged documents. Many of these accounts were created with the help of complicit bank staff, mainly from Kotak Mahindra Bank and IndusInd Bank.
These accounts were then sold or rented to cybercriminals for ₹8,000–₹10,000 each. The accounts were used to receive money from online frauds and then transfer it further to hide the money trail.
Rourkela Police arrested four accused:
Ajay Kumar Sah
Sitanshu Kumar Swain (IndusInd Bank employee)
Siba Sankar Pattanaik (Kotak Mahindra Bank cashier)
Prabhanjan Nayak (earlier IndusInd, now Mahindra Finance)
Police recovered:
12 ATM cards
3 Aadhaar cards
3 bank passbooks
5 cheque books
4 mobile phones
1 laptop
1 hard drive
The operation was carried out under the supervision of SP Rourkela Shri Nitesh Wadhwani, with DSP Serofina Xess, Inspector S.K. Mohanty, and the entire Cyber PS & HG H.S. Naik team leading the field action
Ongoing Investigation
Police are now:
Tracking the money trail
Checking involvement of more bank officials
Examining seized devices
Coordinating with cyber units in other states
This is the third mule-account case detected in Rourkela this year. Over 60 cybercriminals have already been arrested.
Rourkela Police urges the public not to share bank details with anyone and to immediately report if their bank account is frozen due to suspected cyber fraud.
Rourkela Police
