Bhubaneswar: The recent arrest of a 39-year-old M-Tech postgraduate from a village in Odisha’s Kandhamal district, who was tracked down in Goa, has exposed a calculated digital deception that preys on vulnerability, using fake medical emergencies and matrimonial platforms as traps.
Jinu Sahani, also known as Rakesh Rajput, is accused of defrauding several women of Rs 1.19 a fortune he spent living lavishly in Goa, fuelling online gaming addictions, and frequenting upscale hotels.
Unlike many quick-hit cyber thefts, this alleged operation relied on prolonged emotional manipulation. Sahani, meticulously targeted vulnerable individuals, specifically widows looking for a fresh start, through sites such as Jeevansathi.com and Shaadi.com. He introduced himself under aliases including Sai Krupa Das of Bhubaneswar, conducted WhatsApp video calls to build a false sense of security. Once the victims lowered their guard under the promise of marriage, he spun intricate webs of hospital crises, claiming his father was critically ill and that he was personally suffering from severe conditions like psoriasis.
To make the lies foolproof, he circulated forged medical documents and photographs. In one primary case out of Bhanjanagar, a 31-year-old widow was persuaded to hand over control of her bank account and mortgage her gold ornaments, ultimately transferring nearly Rs 60 lakh to the fraudster after he claimed his own accounts were frozen.
Questioning revealed a wider pattern. Sahani had also allegedly cheated a woman in Bhubaneswar of about Rs 53.75 lakh and another in Berhampur of Rs 5.30 lakh using similar tactics. The total amount involved in all these cases of fraud is approximately Rs 2 crore, said police
To remain undetected, he allegedly used multiple fake WhatsApp accounts and SIM cards registered in other people’s names. When a Ganjam Cyber Crime and Economic Offences team arrested him in Goa on Monday and brought him back, seven mobile phones, seven SIM cards, six power-cable chargers, a black travel adaptor kit, 12 rubber stamps, two stamp pads, a debit card, an Aadhaar card, a voter identity card, an Indian Railway identity card, a fake court order, two purportedly forged SBI blocked demand draft receipts and Rs 2,080 in cash were seized from his possession. Around Rs 12.31 lakh linked to the cases also has been frozen.
An accomplice, Uttam Kumar Sahu alias Miki (32), had previously been apprehended in Kandhamal on August 2.
According to Ganjam SP Harisha BC, Sahani was no novice to fraud. His criminal history traces back to 2015, beginning with job-promise scams before evolving into complex matrimonial fraud. He currently faces charges under several provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 66(D) of the Information Technology Act, with open cases across Puri, Bhubaneswar, and Berhampur.