BERHAMPUR: R Udayagiri police in Gajapati district on Sunday arrested a 41-year-old man for allegedly cheating hundreds of farmers by promising them subsidised borewell installations.
Police said the accused, Sandeep Pattanayak of Khallikote in Ganjam, was part of a group that had visited several villages under Nuagada and R Udayagiri blocks in 2024, posing as representatives of a CSR initiative linked to an educational research university in Bhubaneswar.
The group reportedly convinced farmers to enrol in a low-cost borewell installation scheme by collecting Rs 11,000 as a registration fee from each beneficiary, claiming that the remaining cost would be covered by the Central government.
Believing the claims, around 350 farmers registered and deposited money. However, after more than two years, no borewells were installed and none of the promised benefits was delivered, leaving the farmers with significant financial losses.
Some of the victim farmers spotted Sandeep in R Udayagiri on Sunday and caught him. The accused was subsequently brought to the police station.
R Udayagiri SDPO Rakesh Sahoo said investigation is underway to identify the involvement of other accused persons and uncover the full extent of the alleged fraud, he added.
