In a major crackdown on financial fraud, Berhampur police on Wednesday arrested two individuals for allegedly cheating banks and a victim of Rs 24 lakh by availing gold loans using fake ornaments as collateral.
The arrested accused have been identified as Biswajit Kar (42) of Sahadebkhunta, Balasore district, and Abhinab Srivastav (26) of Ghazipur district, Uttar Pradesh. Police also detained Manjur Elahi (39), a resident of Baleswar Town in Balasore, believed to be the mastermind of the operation. Another individual, known as SK, has been named the prime accused and is under investigation.
The arrests followed a complaint filed by P. Purushottam (50) on Tuesday. According to the complaint, Purushottam had known the accused for nearly a decade through their work at a shrimp hatchery farm in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh.
On January 27, the accused met him at a Berhampur hotel and persuaded him to take gold loans from various banks in his name, offering him a commission. When Purushottam expressed concern, they claimed they couldn’t get loans themselves due to low CIBIL scores, and assured him the gold jewelry was genuine.
Tempted by the offer, Purushottam opened loan accounts at multiple banks — including Bank of Maharashtra, Federal Bank, Axis Bank, and DCB Bank — in his name and in the names of some relatives. He mortgaged the jewelry supplied by the accused and secured loans totaling around Rs 24 lakhs.
Trouble began when Purushottam was unable to repay the loans. The banks initiated auctions of the pledged gold. One Kalidas Achary, who won the auction, later discovered that the ornaments were fake, made of imitation gold.
Realizing he had been duped, Purushottam devised a plan and lured the suspects back to Berhampur under the pretense of involving more people in similar loan arrangements. Acting on this tip, the police arrested Srivastav and Kar upon their arrival. Soon after, Elahi was also apprehended from Balasore.
The investigation is ongoing, and police say more arrests may follow.
