Fraudsters Dupe Odisha MLA Tara Bahinipati Of Rs 2.5 Lakh With Cement Dealership Promise

Bhubaneswar: Senior Congress leader and Odisha MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati has lost Rs 2.5 lakh to cyber fraudsters, who promised to arrange a cement dealership for his brother.

Giving this information to the media, the Jeypore MLA urged people to remain vigilant against cybercrimes and not to get misled by their lucrative proposals.

The Congress legislator claimed that he received a phone call a few days ago from an unidentified person, who offered him to arrange a cement dealership for anyone in his family. The caller told him that his company needs a deposit of Rs 4 lakh for awarding the dealership while other companies are seeking Rs 10 lakh for the same, he said.

The caller then asked the lawmaker to deposit Rs 4 lakh in a bank account to get cement dealership in his brother’s name.

Bahinipati said he got an OTP on his phone after he shared his bank account number with caller. Rs 4 lakh was withdrawn from his account after he revealed the OTP to the caller. However, the caller did not arrange any cement dealership, said the legislator.

A complaint in this regard was lodged with the Cyber Police in Koraput and a probe was launched. The police traced the cyber fraudsters to somewhere in Bihar and arrested three persons in this connection, while Rs 1.5 lakh was recovered from them, he said.

Asking people to observe caution after getting phone calls from unknown numbers, the Congress leader said no one should share the bank account and other details with unknown persons to avoid similar incidents.