The Bharatpur police have arrested a fraudster from Dhenkanal for allegedly duping a couple of over Rs 28 lakh by falsely promising to halt a bank auction of their house.
The victim, Sushmita Patnaik of Pokhariput, faced an impending bank auction of her property mortgaged with Bank of Baroda. The accused, identified as Pratyush Suryasnata Beura (46) of Anantapur, Kataka, posed as a banking expert and assured the couple he would stop the auction and arrange loan instalments. Trusting him, the couple transferred Rs 10 lakh via RTGS, Rs 9,56,750 via PhonePe, and gave Rs 8,55,000 in cash—totalling Rs 28,11,750—along with a blank check.
Despite taking the money, the accused failed to prevent the auction, leading to the bank auctioning the house in 2023. When the couple demanded their money back, the accused stalled them and eventually threatened and abused them over the phone.
Acting on the victim’s complaint, Bharatpur police registered a case under sections 318(4) and 351(3) of the BNS and tracked the main accused to Kunjakanta in Dhenkanal with local police assistance. He was arrested, confessed to the crime, and was forwarded to court seeking a 15-day remand.
