JAGATSINGHPUR: Balikuda police on Sunday busted a gang involved in cheating lakhs of rupees from people in the name of providing mythical Hanuman coins and arrested five persons in this connection. Police also rescued a middleman, Nabaghan Das of Ranapur village, who was allegedly kidnapped by the gang, from Cuttack. Sources said a Bengali woman, Dalirani Barik, of Balikuda used to collect Hanuman coins from different villages and supply it to the gang.
Earlier, Barik was active in Cuttack and later she shifted her trade to Balikuda where she was staying at her mother in-law’s house. After Barik came to know that Das is also working as a middleman for collection of coins from local villages, she informed her gang members, who approached him in this regard. Later, three gang members, Tukuni Behera, her son Biplab and Tusar, took Das to Barik for giving Hanuman coins. After the deal was finalised, the gang members kidnapped Das at gunpoint and looted cash of `one lakh from him.
His wife Meena Das also lodged a complaint with police over abduction of her husband.
Balikuda IIC Ranjit Kumar Prusty said Das was rescued from Cuttack on Sunday and a case has been registered. Four persons have been detained for interrogation, he added.