Rayagada: Police have registered a case of cheating against 4 persons, including a journalist, in a chit fund scam of over Rs 6o lakh in Odisha’s Rayagada district.
As per reports, the four accused, headed by mastermind Debasish Mishra, the son of a school teacher, had approached the women groups of Gunupur in the district last year with a financial offer. He was accompanied by representatives of private finance institutions including Sampurna, Fusion, People Forum and others.
Debasish convinced the financial institutions that the women wanted to take loan for opening sewing centres, coaching centre, Jan Seva Kendra and self-help centres.
Later, Debasish and his associates took loans of Rs 30,000 to Rs 35,000 in the name of each woman totalling more than Rs 60 lakh. He has assured the women that he would return the loan with interest.
As Debasish failed to repay the loan, the representatives of the financial institutions started harassing the women. Meanwhile, Debasish and his accomplices absconded.
Realising that they had been cheated, the women filed a case at Gunupur police station. A 4-member police team led by Gunupur SDPO Bikash Mumar Beuria conducted raid on several places whose addresses were furnished by Debasish. But they failed to find any trace of him.
Meanwhile, the police have forwarded the case to special OPID court at Berhampur under chit fund Act. The SDPO said since the case involved financial irregularities the Enforcement Directorate would investigate into it.
