ROURKELA: Bhasma police in Sundargarh district on Friday arrested a 32-year-old man from Balangir on charges of duping a tribal widow of Rs 14.45 lakh with the false promise of arranging government jobs for her two children.
The accused is Saroj Kumar (32), a native of Bargarh district who was staying in Balangir. Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) of Sundargarh Nirmal Mohapatra said the victim, Ranjita Kalo (42) of Bhalugarh village, had lodged a complaint against the accused in August 2025. She alleged that Saroj contacted her through a fake Facebook account and assured to arrange jobs in the Commercial Tax department for her unemployed son and daughter.
Mohapatra said Saroj demanded Rs 15 lakh to arrange the jobs. The victim woman first paid him Rs 12.45 lakh through online transactions. She later went to Balangir to pay him Rs 2 lakh in cash.
However, the accused demanded another Rs 10 lakh from her. When the victim failed to arrange the amount, Saroj went back on the job promise and refused to pay back the amount she had already paid. The accused also verbally abused and threatened her, he said.
To get the promised jobs for her children, the victim had paid the money by selling her jewelleries and also borrowed from others. On realising that she had been cheated, Ranjita approached police and filed the complaint, the SDPO said.
After investigation, the accused was arrested from Balangir under sections 319(2), 315(4) and 296 of BNS. A sedan car, eight mobile phones, one tablet, seven passbooks, ATM cards and cheque books of different banks were seized from him. His bank deposit of around Rs 2 lakh has also been freezed.
Mohapatra said police suspect that Saroj is involved in more forgery cases in different districts. The accused was produced in Sundargarh court and remanded in judicial custody. Further investigation is underway.