Bhubaneswar: The third ‘absconding’ accused in the fake Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) work order case, in which a self-styled godman and an engineer were earlier arrested in August 2021, recently surrendered before SDJM court in Bhubaneswar, the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of Odisha Crime Branch said on Monday.
The accused, identified as Bikash Maharana, had entered into a criminal conspiracy with Bijayananda Choudhury, alias Shri Swami Bijayanandaji Maharaj, and Chandan Akash Mohanty, an engineer who has previously worked with OTDC, and cheated Dhanurdhar Champatiray, a special class contractor, of Rs 3 crore. They committed the fraud by impersonating OTDC officials.
Maharana had identified himself as a clerk, working with OTDC, Bhubaneswar, while the self-styled godman impersonated as chairman of the state-run corporation. Chandan Akash Mohanty was the mastermind.
They were arrested on basis of a complaint from OTDC after an investigation revealed that they had collected a huge amount from Champatiray, who was desperately looking for work during the pandemic, towards Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) against the fake work orders of the state undertaking.
Between August and November 2020, the accused had handed over 23 work orders for the renovation of Pantha Nivas at Barakul and Rambha, purportedly issued under the seal and signature of Executive Engineer, OTDC.
While Rs 1.14 crore was deposited through the bank account of the accused persons and another Rs.1.85 crore was collected in cash from the complainant by Maharana by giving false money receipts, the EOW sources said.
In another related case reported by Bijayini Mohanty, the accused persons had cheated Tapan Kumar Mohanty of over Rs.50 lakh deceitfully for the sale/purchase of Hotel Nilachal Ashok at Puri, by impersonating senior officers of ITDC. Here too, Maharana had collected the cash from the complaint husband on different dates, the sources added.
