Phulbani: A 30-year-old man was arrested in Odisha’s Kandhamala district for allegedly posing as a motor vehicle inspector (MVI) and cheating people of lakhs of rupees, besides exploiting women on false promise of marriage.
The accused, identified as Dharmendra Kumar Behera alias Nikhil Kumar Patnaik of Chakapada in Kandhamala district, was arrested on Saturday following investigation into a complaint lodged by a woman at Sarangada police station.
According to Kandhamala SP Ramendra Prasad said the complainant alleged that Behera had duped her of Rs 7.18 lakh after promising to marry her and arrange a regular government job for her through his influence with senior officials. The woman reportedly transferred the money in multiple online transactions between June 2025 and January 2026. When she sought the money back, the accused allegedly stopped responding and switched off his phone.
During the operation, Behera was found wearing an Odisha Motor Vehicles department uniform and using a vehicle fitted with an orange beacon. Ppolice seized an OMVD uniform bearing the nameplate “Nikhil Kumar Patnaik”, a police raincoat, two cars, two nameplates, a mobile phone, bank passbook, Aadhaar card, educational certificates and photographs of the accused in uniform.
Investigators found that Behera had allegedly been impersonating an MVI officer, carrying out unauthorised vehicle checks in Kandhamal and Ganjam districts and frequently visiting government offices.
During questioning, the accused confessed to cheating the complainant and several others. Preliminary investigation showed that he had allegedly sent marriage proposals to multiple women and exploited some of them financially and sexually by falsely promising marriage.
Further investigation is in progress to identify other victims who may have been duped by the accused.