Woman, 3 Family Members Held For Duping ‘Facebook Friend’ Businessman Of Rs 15 Lakh In Odisha’s Sundargarh

Sudnargarh: A woman and her three family members were arrested for allegedly cheating a businessman of Rs 15 lakh in Odisha’s Sundergarh district.

Sources said accused Jharana Badi and the other three were arrested by the police following a complaint lodged by the victim, identified as Sumit Mishra of Biramitrapur area of the district.

As per the police complaint, main accused Jharana developed a friendship with him through Facebook. She claimed that she owned several trucks and a jewellery shop.

After impressing him with her false claims, the woman invited Sumit to a hotel in Sundargarh to discuss a business plan with huge profits. She also asked Sumit to bring Rs 15 lakh to take the business plan forward.

During discussion on the so-called business proposal in the hotel, the woman allegedly escaped from the spot after cunningly replacing the bag containing the money with another.

Sumit soon realised that he had been cheated and lodged a complaint with the police. Police investigation led to the arrest of Jharana, her husband Subas Tanti, sister Rajkumari and brother Jubraj.

Police have seized Rs 8.5 lakh cash, more than 15 fake Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, bank cards, duplicate gold rings and chains from the arrested persons.

A senior police official said that the woman and her family members had been duping people by befriending them on social media. Jharana is said to have cheated people in a similar manner in Jharsuguda. Further investigation is underway.