Berhampur: Two couples have been arrested for allegedly cheating at least 11 job seekers of over Rs 11.70 lakh in Ganjam district on the pretext of getting them jobs in a company at Bhubaneswar, police said Wednesday.
The arrested couple identified as Ganesh Nayak, 42, his wife Tapaswini Singh, 40, of Nilagiri area in Balasore district and Bipin Patra, 35, and his wife Bijuli Patra, 32, of Patharabandha village near Bhubaneswar. They were staying in rented houses in Ganjam district’s Hinjili area, said the police. According to police, Ganesh, who is the mastermind of the cheating case, also has several criminal antecedents in Bhubaneswar. “We are also verifying the record of criminal activities of Ganesh and other accused persons in other police stations,” said inspector-in-charge (IIC), Hinjili police station, Srinibash Sethi. Police said Ganesh had taken Rs 2 lakh from one Bulu Jena of Hinjili area to sell a land located at Berhampur to him about a year ago. Bulu, who has a grocery shop in Salia Sahi in Bhubaneswar, has come in contact with Ganesh and his friend Bipin, while they were staying in Salia Sahi in the Capital city. The families of Ganesh and Bipin shifted to Hinjili about eight months ago and stayed at Kanjiama in rented houses.
During their stay at Hinjili, they also allegedly cheated at least 11 job seekers to provide jobs in a company in Bhubaneswar. The couples had taken huge sum of money ranging from Rs 45,000 to over Rs 3.50 lakh from each of the victims on different dates, he said. As the victims did not get a job, they demanded return of their money from the couples several times. However, the accused couple urged them to wait for some more days. The victims, however, caught them Sunday, when they were planning to flee from Hinjili. They handed over them to the police and lodged an FIR against them. The police took them into custody Monday. “We have registered a cheating case against the couples and started an investigation. Preliminary investigation has revealed the couples had duped Rs 11.70 lakh from 11 persons,” said Sethi.