ROURKELA: Jhirpani police on Friday arrested a 55-year-old man for allegedly duping a real estate businessman of Rs 2.83 crore.
Police said Md Qumar Khan of Koelnagar along with his wife and an accomplice cheated realtor Biswa Bhusan Nanda (36) in 2024. Khan’s wife Sindhu AS (50), a native of Chengannur in Kerala, worked as a teacher in a reputed English medium school in Rourkela.
In December last year, Nanda of Basanti Colony had filed a complaint with police stating that Sindhu was known to him through his sister. She along with her husband and their accomplice Pradipta Patnayak (50) duped him with the false promise of a profitable land deal, he alleged.
The complainant claimed Sindhu informed him that her relatives and acquaintances in Chengannur were interested in selling their land worth Rs 3 crore. The accused trio told him to invest quickly as the land value was rising fast. Subsequently, he paid them Rs 2.83 crore in installments between April and May 2024.
Nanda said when the accused could not provide him the land, he realised that he had been duped.
Jhirpani IIC Pradip Nayak while Khan was arrested, his wife Sindhu and the other accused person were admitted to hospital after they complained of ill health.
“They would be arrested after discharge from hospital. The duped amount is yet to be recovered,” he added.