The Ainthapali police in Sambalpur on Tuesday arrested three persons, including two engineering students, in connection with a cyber fraud to the tune of Rs 2 lakh.
The two arrested engineering students had gone missing along with two fellow students of a private engineering college in Bhubaneswar since February 11.
Those arrested were identified as Rahmat Ansari (22) of Malandi village in Deoghar district of Jharkhand, Vishal Pandey (21) of Janta Market Station Road in East Singbhum district of Jharkhand and Sekhar Gautam (21) of Sikandra Road in Jamui district of Bihar.
Police seized Rs 1.13 lakh in cash, nine mobile phones, ATM cards and a laptop from their possession.
Police said the accused called up one Saroj Dash (45) of Anguliapada under the Ainthapali PS and offered assistance to complete formalities of a personal loan which he had applied online on February 5. When the loan amount was credited to the applicant’s bank account, the accused persons fraudulently diverted the money to another account.
The students were living in a rented accommodation at Kalinga Vihar under the Tamando police station in Bhubaneswar.
The incident had come to the fore when their parents met the Twin City Commissioner of Police Soumendra Priyadarsi on Monday and requested him to trace their whereabouts.
A missing complaint was lodged with the Tamando police and investigations were on to trace them.