A youth, who was running a job consultancy firm in the City using a fake identity, was arrested by the police after his attempt to con a few people failed in Kolkata.
The accused, Arabinda Tripathy, was held by the same youths who had paid him ` 3.5 lakh for jobs in Malaysia. They escorted him in a train to Bhubaneswar and handed him over to police. When Lingaraj Police, which was investigating into the case, verified his identity, Arabinda turned out to be Baipna Patra, a resident of Bada Bazar in Berhampur.
He had laid out a well-thought out plan and opened a consultancy firm called Om Sai Associates at Samantarapur in the City. When he got inquiries, Arabinda alias Bapi assured them jobs in Malaysia. He collected over ` 50,000 from about seven youths promising them employment as mechanics, fitters, plumbers and electricians.
He did not stop at that. The accused made fake visas of the candidates and even took them to Kolkata from where they were supposed to fly to Malaysia, Inspector-in-Charge of Lingaraj Police Station Rajendra Mandal said. However, none of his clients was given air tickets.
Bapina apparently told the job seekers that the tickets were with him and he would hand them over at the Netaji Subhas Bose Airport itself. His clients initially believed him but as the travel time drew close, they got suspicious. Some of them approached him and got to the bottom of the matter.
The job seekers caught hold of the conman and got on board a train. Once the matter was reported to police on Saturday evening, he was arrested on basis of the report of one Ashutosh Parida. He has been charged with cheating and fabrication of documents and was produced before a local court.
In a separate incident, police have arrested a miscreant who had attacked a youth and decamped with his bike from Mancheswar area of the City last month.
The incident had occurred on July 8 when Manoj Behera, along with two others, intercepted Samir Biswal near Eskay Square and attacked him with sharp weapons. Leaving him injured, they fled with his bike. Mancheswar Police arrested Behera on Sunday while his associates were held by Kharavela Nagar Police in connection with a separate case.