Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the state Crime Branch Monday arrested Rasmita Patra, wife of M/s Z-Infra Construction Pvt Ltd managing director Prasanna Kumar Patra, for her alleged indulgence in defrauding around 300 people of Rs 12 crore.
According to the case details, the accused, along with her husband, had collected around Rs 12 crore from more than 300 persons on the pretext of providing them with affordable plots at Kansapada under Jatni tehsil in Khurda between 2010 and 2013. The company, however, neither provided litigation-free plots nor did it refund the deposits.
“While receiving the deposits, the accused duo was well aware of the fact that their firm (M/s Z-Infra Construction Pvt. Ltd.) had not acquired the land promised for selling to the depositors. However, under pressure from the depositors, the firm managed to get a few plots registered against some persons. However, neither of these plots had any approach road or other basic amenities. Besides, a few other depositors received bogus land documents,” an EOW official said, referring to the police complaint.
Manoranjan Mishra, one of the duped depositors, approached the EOW, which registered a case (17/18) under Sections 420, 406, 467, 468, 471 and 120B of the IPC, apart from Section 6 of the OPID Act. In course of investigation, the investigating agency arrested Prasanna Kumar Patra August 7, 2018.
