Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has rejected the bail application of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Dillip Kumar Nayak, who has been in custody for over eight months in connection with an alleged multi-crore investment fraud.
Nayak’s counsel argued for bail citing various grounds, but the court emphasised the gravity and scale of the alleged fraud running into crores.
Justice Gourishankar Satapathy dismissed the petition, observing that the allegations against Nayak involved serious financial deceit. The judge noted that it would be premature to classify the matter as a purely civil dispute, especially since witnesses are yet to be examined during the trial.
Naya
k was arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the state CID-Crime Branch on September 20, 2025. He faces accusations of cheating investors, primarily a realtor named Bijay Rout, by promising lucrative returns through real estate ventures.
According to police investigations, Nayak allegedly received around ₹12.42 crore from Rout between 2015 and 2018 for various land deals in Bajrakabati and Bhubaneswar’s Patia. He is said to have taken additional funds for a company venture but returned only a fraction, while secretly selling portions of land without the complainant’s knowledge. Sale deeds, power of attorney documents, and agreements have been seized as evidence in the case.
Nayak had contested the 2024 Odisha Assembly elections from the Nimapara seat in Puri district on a BJD ticket against BJP candidate Pravati Parida. He lost by a narrow margin of 4,588 votes; Parida went on to become the state’s first woman Deputy Chief Minister.