Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Police arrested a woman and her daughter from Kolkata for allegedly duping nearly 34,000 people across five states and even Bangladesh through chit funds, a senior officer said Wednesday.
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Odisha Police’s Crime Branch arrested Dwipika Bhanjo and her daughter Tandra Bhanjo Tuesday from Salt Lake and brought them to Bhubaneswar on transit remand, he said.
Dwipika’s husband, Tushar Bhanjo, was arrested in the case in June 2024, and he has since been in jail.
The EOW had registered a case against Harit Krishi Nidhi Ltd and Transvision Dream Multi Trade Pvt Ltd, along with Tushar, the director of both firms, May 28 last year, after receiving a complaint from a Bhubaneswar-based investor.
DGP (Crime Branch) Vinaytosh Mishra said Tushar had set up Harit Krishi Nidhi Ltd in 2023 and incorporated it in West Bengal.
But, in violation of the Nidhi Rules, he opened offices in other states, and collected more than Rs 123 crore from around 34,000 investors of Odisha, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Assam, Tripura, Maharashtra and even of Bangladesh, the officer said.
In violation of the rules, he ran a chit fund scheme by promising investors higher returns, apart from offering substantial commission for arranging new investors.
Besides using social media, he held meetings in different cities to lure investors.
During the investigation, the EOW found the involvement of Tushra’s wife, Dwipika, and daughter Tandra.
It was found that Rs 43.67 lakh was transferred from the accounts of the Nidhi company to the personal account of Tandra, and Rs 41 lakh was credited to the personal account of Dwipika from the company accounts, the DGP said.
Also, Dwipika was the initial director of the Nidhi firm, holding 1,000 shares, he stated.
“We had been searching for Dwipika and Tandra, but they remained on the run. We finally arrested the mother-daughter duo Tuesday from Kolkata,” he said.
The police have sealed a flat and a plot of land belonging to the accused persons, he added.
PTI
