CUTTACK: A police constable posted in Cuttack Rural district was on Monday arrested along with his wife and an associate for duping more than Rs 1 crore from people in the name of giving them plots.
Amiya Mohapatra, APR constable under Cuttack Rural SP and his wife Priyadarshini Mohapatra along with a partner Suryamani Khatua had reportedly been running a fake real estate firm ‘Garden Home Realcon’ from Sriram Nagar under Badambadi police limits for the last six-seven years.
The firm was registered in the name of Priyadarshini. They had collected advances from scores of people in lieu of providing them plots at Gopalpur and Manguli. When several years passed without the customers getting any plot, they approached the couple but in vain. While the couple tried to evade the customers, they also allegedly threatened those who were persistent.
Some of the customers had filed complaints with Badambadi police following which the three were nabbed. Preliminary investigations revealed that the couple had duped around 40 customers to the tune of Rs one crore. However, more could be unearthed as more customers turn up, police said.