UMERKOTE: Over 100 women of a village in Nabarangpur district were allegedly duped of more than Rs 50 lakh by an Asha worker and her family.
Police said the Asha worker, Subhasini Mohapatra, her husband Sarat and son Nirakar of Banuaguda village in Papadahandi block had told the women they would help them avail loans from banks and other sources.
Subhasini told the women if they gave loan to her, she would repay it with interest and pay them a certain amount in return. Convinced, the women took the loan from four non-banking financial institutions (NBFIs) and Axis Bank. Sources said as many as 24 women availed loans from Annapurna group, 30 from Spandana, 24 from Suryodaya, seven from Tata and a few others from Axis Bank.
Each woman availed Rs 30,000 to Rs 50,000 and handed over the amount to Subhasini. However, six months after taking the money from the women, Subhasini and her son neither repaid the loan to the NBFIs nor returned the amount. A few days back, 10 women, who had availed loans from Axis Bank, received notices on non-payment of instalments. However, as Subhasini and her family went incommunicado, the women filed a complaint at Papadahandi police station.
Papadahandi IIC Deepak Kumar Jena said basing on the women’s complaint, a case has been filed. Probe has been started and efforts are on to trace Subhasini and her family, he said.