Bhubaneswar: Cyber fraudsters swindled Rs 125.63 cr

Bhubaneswar: Cyber fraudsters have swindled Rs 125.63 crore from people of Odisha during the last three years (2021 to 2023), Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi told the State Assembly on Monday. While replying to a question from BJD legislator Prasanta Behera in the House, Majhi said a total of 6,368 cyber fraud cases were registered in the State and 1,388 persons have been arrested during the period. The police were able to return only Rs 2.77 crore to the victims, he said.

The Odisha police registered 2,037 cyber fraud cases involving cheating of Rs 40.39 crore in 2021, of which, Rs 27.56 lakh was refunded to the victims, he said.

In 2022, the cyber fraudsters duped victims to the tune of Rs 37.28 crore, of which Rs 97.30 lakh was returned to the victims. The police have registered a total of 1,983 cyber crime cases in the year, Majhi said.

The Chief Minister, in his statement, said, cyber fraud to the tune of Rs 47.94 crore was reported in 2,348 cases during 2023.

Out of the total amount, Rs 1.52 crore was returned to the victims. The official data showed that a total of 425 people were arrested in 2021, while 441 were arrested in 2022 and 522 persons were nabbed for various cyber crimes in the last year, he told the House.