Cuttack: The Orissa High Court Monday granted conditional bail to Hansita Abhilipsa and her associate Anil Mohanty in connection with an alleged fraud case.
The court ordered both individuals to surrender their passports and granted bail on a surety bond of Rs. 50,000 each.
They had been arrested in December last year for allegedly defrauding people by impersonating themselves as the daughter and son-in-law of PK Mishra, the principal secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
According to the police, the accused were also involved in a trafficking operation in which young women were allegedly used to lure businessmen and politicians into securing financial deals. The Special Crime Unit of the Infocity police in Bhubaneswar had booked them under relevant sections of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act and the Information Technology (IT) Act.
In January this year, Infocity Inspector-in-Charge Mahendra Kumar Sahu had said the case has been registered under Sections 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), 67 of the IT Act (publication and transmission of obscene material), and Section 5 of the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act.
Earlier, Infocity police had filed additional charges against the duo under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code, including Sections 417 (cheating), 419 (impersonation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 468 (forgery), and 471 (using a forged document as genuine), along with Section 12 of the Passport Act.
Also Read: Actress Bhagyashree visits Puri Jagannath Temple
Police investigations revealed that Abhilipsa allegedly maintained a ‘rate chart’ of women for potential clients and digitally manipulated photographs with influential individuals to falsely promise assistance in securing business tenders.
Authorities had further alleged that Abhilipsa had previously changed her name from Bishnupriya Chand in her passport, which created complications in establishing her true identity in a local court.
PNN
