Berhampur: A businessman of Berhampur city in Odisha’s Ganjam district has allegedly been duped of more than Rs 15 lakh by a hardware supply agency in Maharashtra.
According to the complaint filed at Bada Bazar police station in the city, the proprietor of Mahavir Trading Co on Aska road, Sumant Sahu deals in supply of ductile iron (DI) pipes to the contractors engaged in construction works. As there was a sudden rise in demand for the DI pipes by the contractors in 2018, Sumant searched for a big supplier online in the internet.
After he came across MS Seva Corporation at Thane in Maharashtra, Sumant contacted its owner Manohar Kand. Following the discussion between them over phone, Manohar agreed for bulk supply of DI pipes. Sumant transferred Rs 35 lakh to Manohar’s bank account through online transaction in August 2021.
As per the agreement, Manohar supplied DI pipes worth Rs 19.34 lakh to Sumant. As the supply was stopped after that, Sumant contacted Manohar over phone but did not get any satisfactory reply. Finally, he went to Manohar’s office in Thane and the latter gave him 5 cheques worth the rest amount of Rs 15.68 lakh.
On returning home, when Sumant deposited the cheques in August 2019, those bounced. On enquiry, Sumant came to know that Manohar had made requested the bank to stop payment from his account.
Sumant again went to Manohar’s office at Thane but found it locked from outside. On enquiring from the local people, he could not know the whereabout of Manohar or his office staff. Finally, Sumant filed the complaint at Bada Bazar police station in this regard.
The police have registered a case and launched an investigation to trace Manohar, the sources said.
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