Bhadrak: Two persons were arrested by Basudevpur police in Bhadrak district for alleged involvement in a money-doubling fraud.
Identified as Priyaranjan Nayak from Mahanga in Cuttack and Bijaya Das from Derabish in Kendrapara district, the duo is believed to belong to a notorious gang.
Their modus operandi was to identify ‘targets’ and luring them into investing in their firm with the promise of doubling their money.
It worked with some but they met their match with potential ‘investor’ Nirad Das. On receiving a call with a similar offer, Nirad immediately informed the police and lodged a complaint.
As part of a plan after discussion with police officials, Nirad asked the duo to come to Nalang Chhak on NH-16 in Bhadrak. Once they arrived to collect the money from Nirad, they were arrested by police.
“It seems a big network is operating this fraud scheme. They are asking people to deposit Rs 10 lakh to get Rs 20 lakh in return. Whatever amount you deposit, you will receive double the amount. The callers over phone inform that Sana Mahakud has huge money in his locker and because Bihar poll is underway, they want to get rid of the money by such scheme. Subsequently, the fraudsters call people to the highway and dupe them,” the complainant said.
“The duo was inside the vehicle when we nabbed them after the raid. Rs 71,200 worth of cash has been seized from them. They also possessed fake currency notes with face value of Rs 42,000. All of that, and also a four-wheeler, three mobile phones and three wooden boxes where cash was being stored have been seized. A case was registered and the duo has been arrested on charges of extortion and possession of counterfeit currency,” Bhadrak SDPO Sarthak Ray said.
