City police successfully stopped a bankrupt businessman’s scheme to stage a burglary at his own showroom to fraudulently claim insurance money. Tamando police arrested the businessman, Santosh Kumar Moharana, along with 12 accomplices, preventing the planned heist.
Moharana, 43, had been struggling financially, unable to pay his shop’s Rs 25,000 monthly rent for 18 months. In November 2024, the shop owner lent him Rs 3 lakh to ease his financial burden.
Despite the support, Moharana’s business did not improve. Allegedly, he devised a plan to have his insured showroom “robbed” to claim Rs 18 lakh in insurance. He enlisted his former employee, Manoj Sejpada, 34, owner of a plywood store in Mayurbhanj, to execute the scheme. Together, they hired 11 men from Balasore to steal goods and transfer them to Sejpada’s store. The group arrived in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday night and gathered at a roadside dhaba for dinner.
“The plot was uncovered when a vigilant customer overheard their conversation and informed the police. Tamando police arrested them before they could leave,” said DCP Jagmohan Meena.
During questioning, the suspects admitted the plan, revealing Moharana as the mastermind. Police seized multiple housebreaking tools, including window cutters, masks, flashlights, iron rods, gloves, knives, and screwdrivers.
Moharana reportedly promised each accomplice Rs 1,000 upfront and Rs 5,000 after the insurance payout. “He confessed that he learned the fraudulent scheme from YouTube videos showing similar tactics,” Meena added.
Authorities are investigating the 11 accomplices’ past records, suspecting their involvement in previous burglaries. The men have been identified as Sk Maksat, 32; Sk Abdul Rehman, 33; Basanta Kumar Senapati, 36; Sk Raju, 22; Samir Jena, 32; Sk Nasir, 20; Harihara Sadual, 37; Hari Krushna Nayak, 53; Shyam Sundar Singh, 24; Sk Raja, 20; and Jisan Khan, 25.
