Dancers Cheated Of Rs 3.4 Lakh In Odisha Capital

Twin City Commissioner of Police, Saumendra Priyadarshi

Bhubaneswar: A woman choreographer has allegedly cheated a group of city-based dancers, including some children, on the pretext of performing in Dubai and Singapore.

The duped performers called on Commissioner of Police, Saumendra Priyadarshi in his office and requested him to take action against the choreographer on Friday.

“We paid nearly Rs 3.4 lakh to Sephalika Mohanty, who is a dance choreographer, in phases in January and February this year. She assured to take us to Dubai and Singapore where 21 of us, including some children, were supposed to perform modern dance. But she reneged on her promise and cheated us,” duped dance teacher Amit Kumar Patro was quoted as saying by The Times of India.

According to Patro, the dancers were asked to perform in Dubai and Singapore on April 1 and April 3 respectively. The dancers were supposed to leave on March 28.

“We, particularly the children, were all excited for our maiden overseas performance. We had practised hard. But we never expected she would cheat us,” said another dancer wishing to remain anonymous.

Following the incident, the artists sought a refund and Mohanty allegedly made them wait for months. A complaint was lodged against her at Laxmisagar police station on June 5.

The victims alleged that despite registering a cheating case, police are yet to take any action against her.

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