Bhubaneswar: Sambalpur Police arrested two individuals Thursday for allegedly defrauding approximately 2,000 people of nearly Rs 2 crore by falsely promising sweeping and sanitation jobs in various government offices within the Sambalpur Municipality.
The accused persons have been identified as Samrat Ray alias Rahul, 32, of Kshetrajpur area and Padmalaya Tandi alias Padmavati, 34, of Burla area in Sambalpur district.
The fraudsters had been duping the gullible victims through a fake company ‘RMAX Pvt Ltd’.
Speaking to mediapersons, Sambalpur Superintendent of Police, Mukesh Kumar Bhamoo Thursday revealed that following the receipt of intelligence regarding the fraud from various sources, the Sambalpur district police had kept surveillance on the activities of the fraudsters for the last couple of months.
Wednesday, the police personnel carried out a raid during a suspicious job mela and detained the accused Samrat and Padmalaya.
“They initially held small meetings at the village level with the attendance of 15 to 20 people. Later, they started organising large meetings with the number of participants increasing every time. Yesterday, we picked them up and during interrogation, we ascertained that they have been engaged in the fraud,” said Sambalpur SP Bhamoo.
The Sambalpur SP also informed that Rs 62 lakh along with two vehicles have been recovered from the possession of the fraudsters.
The accused persons allegedly formed a fake company named “RMAX Pvt. Ltd.” and falsely claimed that it had been authorized to provide appointments for sweeping and sanitation work.
They organised meetings in various areas and collected Rs 12,000 from each individual, promising to offer them employment with daily wages of Rs 400.
When the complainant and others asked for appointment letters and other official documents, the accused persons failed to provide them, citing excuses that the documents would be given later.
During verification, it was found that the fake firm has not been engaged by any government agency. They have been involved in criminal activities since October 2024.
