BERHAMPUR: Gosaninuagaon police on Sunday arrested a realtor on charges of defrauding over Rs 5 crore from over 200 customers by promising them plots.
The accused, Chetan Kumar Choudhury (43), is the owner of Saadhvi Construction and Logistics. He reportedly launched a housing scheme in August 2019, promising to hand over plots to customers by September 2021. Under the scheme, customers were asked to pay around Rs 15,000 per month for two years for their plots, each valued at Rs 4 lakh. The company also offered a daily instalment option, making it accessible to a wide range of customers.
Trusting the scheme, over 200 customers enrolled, many influenced by local agents who were employed by Choudhury. These agents collected monthly and daily payments and issued receipts to the customers. However, no plots were allotted to the customers when the promised timeline lapsed.
When customers approached Choudhury for clarification, he reportedly denied any knowledge of the payments or the scheme and claimed the receipts shown were fake. The agents tried to pacify the customers by assuring them that refunds would be issued soon.
As time passed, Choudhury stopped responding, and both customers and agents grew anxious. A Santosh Patro of Lanjipalli, who worked as marketing head for Saadhvi Construction, eventually confronted Choudhury about the pending refunds. Patro alleged that Choudhury not only refused to initiate repayments but also threatened him with dire consequences.
Subsequently, Patro filed a complaint in Gosaninuagaon police station on Saturday. Basing on his complaint, police registered a case and started investigation. During the probe, police seized the proposed residential plot layout plan, collection slip book, and money receipt books from Choudhury’s possession. He was produced in the court.