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Odisha’s Commissionerate Police smashed a slick interstate cyber fraud racket operating secretly from a Tankapani Road house, arresting 12 operatives including seven from Bihar’s notorious Katri Sarai gang, four Malayalam-speaking callers from Kerala, and one local. The Bhubaneswar-Cuttack squad, acting on solid intel, raided Badagada PS limits Sunday, seizing 60 mobiles, laptops, scratch cards, and fake letters tied to ₹20 crore in fleecing via gift voucher ruses, Kerala lottery cons, and sham loan ads on Facebook. Police Commissioner S Dev Datta Singh confirmed the Katri Sarai crew—masterminded by Pankaj Kumar, Debasish Tripathy, Arjun Raj alias Bitu, and Bijay Kumar—had run this hybrid manual-cyber hustle for months, blending Bihar mule accounts with Kerala’s linguistic lures.
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Secretive Tankapani Den: Bihar Brains Meet Kerala Voices
The gang holed up in Debasish Tripathy’s rented digs, running a call center facade with military precision to dodge radars. Bihar’s seven—mostly Nalanda natives—handled data harvesting from Meesho, Naptol e-com leaks via village agents, plus mule UPI/bank grabs for laundering. Kerala’s quartet—Ajay Raj, Santhroo V, Ajit M, Sarath Sasi—dialed victims in fluent Malayalam, posing as lottery reps or Mudra/Indiabulls/Bajaj loan reps from FB ads. Odisha’s lone local aided logistics, while fake pre-activated SIMs (sourced via bogus docs) fueled anonymous ops. Commissioner Singh detailed the “highly secretive” setup: partitioned rooms, burner phones, and coded comms echoing 2025’s Bihar gang busts.
This multi-state mashup exploited language barriers and e-com trust, netting lakhs per hit across India.
Triple-Threat Scams: Lottery Lies, Voucher Tricks, Loan Lures
The crew deployed three polished ploys, preying on aspirational wallets:
- Fake Gift Vouchers: “Congrats! You’ve won Naptol/Meesho rewards—pay processing to claim.” Victims wired to Bihar mules.
- Kerala Lottery Mirage: FB ads with helplines; Kerala callers hooked details, extracted “fees” for phantom prizes.
- Bogus Loans: Mudra Finance/Indiabulls ads promised instant cash; upfront “docs charges” vanished into UPI hell.
Pankaj Kumar orchestrated databases and accounts from Bihar, funneling funds through layered transfers. Total haul: ₹20 crore+, with probes prying exacts and victim counts—likely hundreds from Tier-2 cities.
Raid Haul and Gang Profile: Katri Sarai’s Odisha Outpost
Badagada cops stormed the den, nabbing all 12 mid-op.
Seizures painted the picture:
- 30 keypad burners + 30 smartphones for calls/SMS blasts.
- 2 laptops loaded with victim lists, scripts, and e-com scrapes.
- Scratch cards, forged letters, fake SIM docs for endless churn.
Katri Sarai Gang, Bihar’s cyber export, specializes in e-com ruses—prior raids froze their ₹50cr networks in 2025. Odisha outpost chose Bhubaneswar for its migrant anonymity and flight hubs to Kerala/Bihar. All face cyber, cheating, forgery charges; transit remand eyes deeper links.
Broader Crackdown: Rising Interstate Menace Meets Police Heat
This bust caps Odisha’s cyber blitz: 2025 saw 15L complaints nationwide, Odisha’s share up 30% via FB/e-com vectors. Parallels scream—Khammam’s ₹550cr mule web, Gwalior digital arrests—highlight mule armies and linguistic gangs. Commissioner Singh formed teams for absconders and pan-India raids, urging e-com firms to plug data leaks.
Victim Shields:
- Ignore unsolicited wins/loans; verify via official sites.
- Block unknown UPI demands; report to 1930/cybercrime.gov.in.
- E-com users: Check privacy settings, avoid shady links.
As 2026 cyber losses hit ₹1L crore projections, Bhubaneswar’s sweep signals no mercy for these digital dacoits.
About the author – Rehan Khan is a law student and legal journalist with a keen interest in cybercrime, digital fraud, and emerging technology laws. He writes on the intersection of law, cybersecurity, and online safety, focusing on developments that impact individuals and institutions in India.
