1 CGHC010257682026 2026:CGHC:36895 NAFR HIGH COURT OF CHHATTISGARH AT BILASPUR MCRC No. 6209 of 2026 Sadanand Mahant S/o Seetaram Mahant Aged About 32 Years Resident Of Balmagoda, Police Station Kotararoad, District Raigarh (C.G.) ... Applicant versus State Of Chhattisgarh Through- Station House Officer, Police Of Police Station Range Cyber, Bilaspur (C.G.) ... Non-Applicant For Applicant : Shri B.K. Chakrabarty, Advocate. For Non-Applicant : Shri Soumya Rai, Deputy GA. Hon'ble Shri Ramesh Sinha , Chief Justice Order on Board 18/08/2026 1. This is the first bail application filed under Section 483 of the Bhartiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 for grant of regular bail to the applicant who has been arrested in connection with Crime No.4/2024 registered at Police Station Rang Cyber, District Bilaspur (C.G.) for the offence under Sections 420, 109, 201, 34 of the IPC and under Section 66 (D) of the IT Act. KRISHNA KUMAR BARVE Digitally signed by KRISHNA KUMAR BARVE Date: 2026.08.19 19:03:49 +0530 2 2. Case of the prosecution is that the complainant has lodged a report with the Police Station Torwa, Bilaspur (C.G.) stating that the holder of mobile number 8179093754 and WhatsApp number 0043932735 has defrauded Rs.25,60,257 in the name of online trading in a Telegram group, based on which FIR was registered. Hence the bail application. 3. It has been argued by learned counsel for the applicant that the applicant is innocent and has been falsely implicated in the crime. The applicant has not acted in the manner as it is alleged by the prosecution. The charge sheet has been filed after a thorough investigation in the case. Therefore, there is no need for custodial interrogation or further proceedings with the applicant/accused. According to the prosecution, main accused, Shubham Sahu, was present at the opening of the alleged bank account and linked his mobile number to the account, over which the applicant/accused has no control or access. Shubham Sahu retained and operated the bank account passbook, ATM, and SIM card from the time the account was opened. The applicant/accused is a resident of a rural area and was lured by co-accused Rahul Mahant and Shubham Sahu into opening the account by promising a commission of Rs.4,000/-. A perusal of the FIR also makes it clear that he only mentioned the mobile numbers and Telegram IDs from which he was induced to commit the fraud. Neither the applicant's mobile number nor Rahul Mahant's mobile number is mentioned in it, which proves this relationship or communication. 3 The facts of the charge sheet show that the applicant is a simple citizen of village area who was lured by Dabholkar and Shunan Sahu to open an account by luring him with a mere commission of Rs.4000/-. The applicant is completely unaware of this big conspiracy of organized cyber fraud. No incriminating material, such as laptop or other technical equipment, nor any amount of money, was seized from the applicant in connection with the crime. The police seized the applicant's Aadhaar card and PAN card, which are already on record and are the subject of the investigation. The investigation under Section 193(7) BNS against the main accused (Shubham Sahu and others) in the case has been kept pending by the police, which is likely to take a long time to complete, it would not be justified to keep the applicant in jail indefinitely. The applicant is in jail since 19-03-2026 and charge sheet has already been filed and it will take sufficient time for the trial to be concluded, so looking to the detention period of applicant, he may be released on bail. 4. On the other hand, learned counsel appearing for the State/non- applicant would oppose the bail application and submit that in compliance of the order passed by this Court on 3.8.2026, the concerned I.O. has filed his personal affidavit. Paras- 5 to 9 of the said affidavit read thus:- “5.That, the brief description of the case is that, the complainant Abhishek Das, Resident of Torwa, Bilaspur has lodged a report to the effect that, on the date of incident on 06.06.2024, the holder of Mobile Number 8602528703 added the 4 complainant to the Telegram Group through WhatsApp and lured him with money for reviewing. On 07.06.2024, the holder of the aforesaid mobile number got trading done in the Coindex link. The complainant has made different transaction of Rs. 1,76,030/- through UPI from his SBI Bank Account Number 36449291991, thereafter, on the pretext of mistake in trading by the said mobile holder, low credit score, tax to be paid due to high amount abnormal tax amount and to deposit the amount again in lieu of getting benefit on the amount deposited so far, the complainant was made to deposit Rs. 1,31,040/- on 11.06.2024 in Federal Bank Account Number 13570100144804, Rs.21,66,024/- on 12.06.2024 in Federal Bank Account Number 11660100316643, Rs. 2,81,611/- on the same date in Federal Bank Account Number 11660100316643, thereafter Rs.5 Lacs in Federal Bank Account Number 99980100368781 dated on 13.06.2024, a fraud was committed by depositing Rs.5 Lacs in Federal Bank Account Number 12790100325127 and Rs.4,34,952/- in Federal Bank Account Number 17640100075443, totaling Rs.25,60,257/-. Based on the report of the complainant, the crime was registered and the matter was taken into investigation. 6. That, during the court of investigation, the ATR report, bank account statements and account opening forms of the complainant and the suspects were obtained and examined. Upon examination, it was found that, on 13.06.2024, Rs.5 Lacs was deposited in Layer 1 Federal Bank Account Number 12790100325127 and on the same date, Rs.50,000/- was transferred to Indian Overseas Bank Account Number 29350200000259. 7. That, thereafter, the present accused applicant Sadanand Mahant, the holder of the said bank account number, was taken into custody and interrogated wherein, he confessed that, in 2024, one Rahul Kumar Mahant told him that, one Shubham Sahu, a Mobile Shop Owner from Raigarh, cheats his associates in the name of online trading and deposits money into their accounts. Thereafter, one Yogesh Mahant and the present accused applicant a Villager open 5 accounts from them, in return, they receive a commission of Rs.10,000/- to Rs. 15,000/- per account. He gives the present accused applicant me Rs.5000/-, then he promise to inform Rahul Kumar Mahant. However, the said Rahul Kumar Mahant and Yogesh Kumar Mahant, repeatedly coaxing him into opening an account and luring him with money, took him to Raigarh and opened an account with Indian Overseas Bank, with Account Number 293502000000259. One Shubham Sahu, who had linked his mobile number to the account, was also present at the account opening. It is further deposed by the present accused applicant that, after opening the account, one Shubham Sahu kept the passbook and ATM card with himself and the said Shubham Sahu gave him Rs. 4000/-as commission for opening the bank account out of which, Rahul Kumar Mahant had taken Rs. 1000/-. After which, by luring him with money, the said Rahul Kumar Mahant took him with him and got an account opened in his name in Gramin Bank Susmura and Karnataka Bank Raigarh. The said Rahul Kumar Mahant took the money and gave it to Shubham Sahu in Raigarh infront of him and said that, he would give the commission money when it arrives, but has not given it till date. By cheating online and getting the money transferred to his account, he has received around Rs. 6000 as commission. Similarly, the accused Rahul Kumar Mahant was also interrogated and his memorandum statement was taken which supported the facts found in the memorandum statement of accused applicant Sadanand Mahant. 8.That, the case involves a serious cyber financial crime and it is revealed that, the present accused applicant used his bank account as a commission to receive the fraudulent proceeds. The other accused in the case is absconding and the investigation is going on under Section 173 (8) of the CrPC and granting bail to the present accused applicant at this stage, is likely to adversely affect the investigation. 9. That, during investigation, it was found that, the present accused Applicant used to provide their aforesaid bank accounts to the concerned 6 gang/offender for use in online cyber fraud activities with the intention of earning illegal money.” Therefore, the present bail application may be rejected. 5. I have heard learned counsel appearing for the parties and perused the case diary. 6. Taking into consideration the facts and circumstances of the case and considering the role attributed to the present applicant in online cyber fraud that he provided his bank account to the offenders for use in online cyber fraud and also considering the contents of the affidavit filed by the I.O., this Court is not inclined to release the applicant on bail. 7. Accordingly, the bail application of applicant – Sadanand Mahant, involved in Crime No.4/2024 registered at Police Station Rang Cyber, District Bilaspur (C.G.) for the offence under Sections 420, 109, 201, 34 of the IPC and under Section 66 (D) of the IT Act, is rejected. - Sd/- (Ramesh Sinha) Chief Justice Barve