Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of state crime branch Thursday arrested close aide of Jyoti Ranjan Beura alias Golden Baba for involvement in Rs12 crore fraud case. The accused has been identified as Aswini Kumar Pradhan, 25, of Bhesari village under Banpur police station limits in Khurda.
Notably, the Commissionerate police arrested Golden Baba December 31 in a fraud case to the tune of Rs 12-crore. Aswini has been absconding since. During the probe, police found that Beura, along with Aswini, had also cheated people outside the state. Three other cases of financial frauds were found pending against Beura and Aswini. A person from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh had also filed a complaint against Beura at Chandrasekharpur police station. Commissionerate police also found his alleged involvement in the cattle smuggling racket.
A case was registered against Golden Baba and Aswini on the complaint filed by Nimananda Pradhan, an employee of National Enterprises owned by prominent mining businessman, Charanjit Singh Grewal from Baripada.
Beura was initially arrested for allegedly duping Grewal on the pretext of providing him loan to the tune of Rs 110 crore. Beura and Aswini allegedly rigged a cheque out of the 11 cheques given by Grewal in advance for the repayment of the loan amount. They allegedly changed the date and deposited the cheque with the concerned bank. The bank staff smelt a rat and informed the company about the forgery.
Pradhan, on behalf of the company, lodged a complaint with the Chandrasekharpur police. Aswini was sent to judicial custody after being produced before the court Thursday.
