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The Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Bhubaneswar has arrested one Himanshu Bhandari from Noida on the charges of duping an Odisha-based businessman of Rs 2.5 crore. The accused reportedly duped the businessman from Joda in Keonjhar district by posing a senior government/ RBI official.
The accused was nabbed on March 15 and was produced before JMFC Barbil on Saturday. The complainant, Pramod Rout had alleged that Himanshu cheated him to the tune of Rs 2.35 crore on the pretext of paying Rs 3 crore under Pradhan Mantri Rahat Kosh Yojana against his insurance policy.
In October, 2019, Rout had received a call from a person who identified himself as A.K.Walia (Fund Releasing) Head, Ministry of Finance. The caller informed Rout that his insurance policy has been selected under Pradhan Mantri Rahat Kosh Yojana and the government will release an amount of Rs 3 cores into his account. Subsequently, Rout received one letter in his mobile through Whatsapp, which was signed by one Suresh Mathur, HOD (Intermediaries) Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority of India (IRDA).
In the letter, Rout was instructed to clear some dues and he kept on receiving calls from different numbers. The callers persuaded Rout to transfer cash in several bank accounts through RTGS.
“Being persuaded, the complainant during the period from 19.11.2019 to 4.02.2021 had transferred around Rs. 2.35 crores in instalments. When no amount was credited, the complainant started dialling the numbers from which he received the calls and found all the mobile numbers to be switched off,” EOW said in a release.
The letters and images of two bank Demand Drafts amounting to Rs 1,27,73,000 and Rs 70,81,800 were also found to be fake and forged.
“During investigation it was found that the accused and his gang members were impersonating as high level officials to cheat the complainant. It was found that the accused is one of the members of the gang that is involved in many such cases in various states. Further investigation is underway,” the release added.
