Berhampur: Police arrested two couples on Monday for allegedly duping 11 job seekers of over Rs 11.7 lakh in Ganjam district‘s Hinjili area. The accused had promised victim’s jobs in a Bhubaneswar-based company and taken the money over a period of 15 days last summer.
The accused have been identified as Ganesh Nayak (42) and his wife Tapaswini Singh (40) from Nilagiri, Baleswar district, along with Bipin Patra (35) and his wife Bijuli Patra (32) from Patharabandh village near Bhubaneswar. The couple are friends and had been residing in rented accommodations in Hinjili for several months.
According to IIC, Hinjili police station, Srinibash Sethi, Ganesh Nayak, the mastermind, has a previous criminal record in Bhubaneswar. “We are investigating their involvement in other criminal activities across different police stations,” Sethi said.
The scam came to light when one Bulu Jena of Kanjiama, who runs a grocery shop in Bhubaneswar’s Salia Sahi, reported being cheated of Rs 2 lakh in a fake land deal with Ganesh about a year ago.
The couples, who moved to Hinjili eight months ago, targeted local residents, collecting amounts ranging from Rs 45,000 to Rs 3.5 lakh from each victim under the pretext of securing them jobs. When the victims demanded their money back on not receiving job offers, the accused repeatedly delayed repayment.
The matter came to light when locals caught the couples attempting to flee Hinjili. They were handed over to police, and an FIR was registered against them. “Most victims are from Kanjiama near Hinjili. We have registered a case of cheating,” Sethi added.