Rs 88 Lakh fraud: Cuttack cyber police bust ‘sextortion racket’, 5 arrested

In a major crackdown on cybercrime, Cuttack Cyber Police arrested five persons on Tuesday for allegedly duping a senior citizen of nearly Rs 88 lakh through a sextortion racket. The victim, a retired government employee and senior citizen from Cuttack district, had been blackmailed using obscene photos and videos over an extended period.

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According to police sources, the accused first established contact with the victim through Facebook, gradually gaining his trust before trapping him in a cyber blackmail scheme. Using explicit material, the gang allegedly extorted large sums of money from the elderly man over the past year.

During the investigation, police seized Rs 14 lakh in cash, gold jewellery, gold coins, multiple bank passbooks, debit and credit cards, and several mobile phones from the accused. Additionally, Rs 5 lakh found in their bank accounts has been frozen as part of the probe.

Police Commissioner Suresh Dev Datta Singh said the accused had been systematically targeting senior citizens and using fear and intimidation to extract money. Further investigation is underway to determine whether more victims are involved in the racket.

“A retired employee of the State government, who is aged more than 70 years, had come in contact with a person on Facebook in January 2025. Subsequently, they came closer to each other. Main accused in the case is Saroj Kumar Jena. The racket members had borrowed money (from the victim) on the pretext of a medical treatment,” the senior cop said.

“However, they (the accused) had repaid the borrowed amount after some days. Following this, they succeeded in gaining trust of the elderly man. Again, they had asked for more money to the senior citizen, who had not given the amount and refused them. Hence, they had arranged a video call (a nude call with a motive to sextort) and had gradually started blackmailing him for money,” the Police Commissioner stated in a presser.