BHUBANESWAR: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha Crime Branch on Monday arrested a woman on charges of land fraud. EOW sleuths apprehended Pankajini Jena, wife of Gayadhara Jena and one of the directors of Sarala Realcon Private limited, for cheating several buyers on the pretext of proving them homestead plots in the Capital and its outskirts.
According to EOW officers, MD of Sarala Realcon, Gayadhara and other directors including Pankajini, had opened an office at Jaydurga Nagar area. They issued a publication in 2010 saying that the company was providing housing plots in and around Bhubaneswar on installment basis.
The MD and other directors of the firm had allegedly collected `17 crore from the potential buyers between 2010 and 2013. But, the plots were never handed over to the buyers nor money refunded. Subsequently, a buyers Dr Rabindra Kumar Panda, a senior professor and dean of IIT-Bhubaneswar, lodged a complaint with EOW alleging cheating by Sarala Realcon.
EOW officers registered a case in 2015 and arrested Gayadhara along with two other directors of the firm, Nibas Chandra Jena and Kailash Chandra Muduli in 2015.“We have submitted a proposal of ad interim attachment of Sarala Realcon’s property (land measuring ac 95 dec) to the Government and frozen `15 lakh, four vehicles and a house in Patia belonging to the officials of the firm,” an EOW officer said.
Meanwhile, Pankajini, a native of Rajkanika in Kendrapara district, was produced in a court on Monday.