CUTTACK: The Crime Branch of Odisha Police has arrested a person for duping two engineers of Rs 1 crore and Rs 5 lakh on the promise of providing jobs, from Bhubaneswar.
Crime Branch DG Vinaytosh Mishra said in 2018, the accused Bishnu Prasad Patnaik alias Biranchi Patnaik of Begunia in Khurda district had fled to Cambodia in 2022 and had been staying there since. “He came to India this month and following a tip-off, was arrested,” the DG said.
Mishra said Patnaik had taken Rs 90 lakh from an aeronautical engineer on the promise of providing a job in British Airways and then Lufthansa Airways.
He even created fake offer letters and appointment letters. In the second case, the accused had duped an electronics engineer to the tune of Rs 15 lakh for providing a lucrative job abroad.
Initially, the two cases were registered at Gunupur police station and later the Crime Branch took over the investigation. During investigation, it is found that Patnaik introduced himself as a medical doctor, professor, engineer, and other false professions to the victims.
The accused had created forged letters of offer and appointment under the names of international consultancy companies like HR Maxons and Lufthansa Technik, a reputed German aviation company. He also forged documents like address proof and driving licence to conceal his identity and whereabouts.
While the investigation was in progress, the accused fled to Cambodia and purportedly created a fake passport to conceal his identity. A Look Out Circular was issued against him in 2019. To evade arrest, he had been staying in Cambodia since 2022 and claimed to have started an IT company there.
Further investigation is on to identify more victims and possible accomplices of Patnaik, Mishra said.