Duping people is his hobby. He wins confidence of people easily by showing his morphed pictures with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, late politician Arun Jaitley, Kendrapara MP Anubhav Mohanty, former Kendrapara collector Samarth Verma and with celebrated cricketer Rohit Sharma.
He assures people that he is in good terms with these bigwigs and he can help them in their difficult times. Then dupes them. He takes big amount from them on the pretext of giving jobs and providing best healthcare facility at hospitals. After winning their confidence, the fraudster usually decamps with cash.
Meet Basudev Panda who is a priest by profession but a fraudster by occupation. He has allegedly duped Rs 30 lakh from many persons in the name of providing jobs and good healthcare services at reputed hospitals.
Hailing from a nondescript village named Dhola under Nikirai police limits in Kendrapara district, Basudev has been accused of taking Rs 6 lakh from a youth to get him admitted in a good hospital for cancer treatment at a time when the youth was actually not suffering from cancer.
He had conned many persons smartly and decamped with their money. After realizing the fact they were duped, victims have recently rushed to his house to get back their hard-earned money. However, they were disappointed to find him missing at home.
A victim Karunakar Rana said, “I sold land and gave him money after he told that I was suffering from blood cancer. He ensured me to provide better treatment facility at a hospital but decamped with the money. Then we realized that he had duped me. When I demanded to return our money, Basudev threatened me with life. Finding no other way, we lodged a complaint with police.”
Rashmita, another victim, said, “The conman told me that my husband was suffering from an incurable disease. Being an illiterate, I believed him and sold land for my husband’s treatment. We gave him a huge amount of money to help us. At the end, we came to know that my husband is suffering from gastritis.”
Though a complaint has been filed in this regard, no action has been taken against the conman so far.
Meanwhile, Kendrapara Superintendent of Police Sandip Sampad instructed Sub-divisional Police Officer to probe the matter.