A high-profile fraud case has rocked Odisha’s twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack, where a businessman and avid car enthusiast, Rohit Roshan Mohanty, was allegedly defrauded of Rs 1.08 crore in a sophisticated luxury car scam.
The prime accused, Sambit Panda, 32, reportedly the son of retired police officer Bidyut Chandra Panda, was arrested on June 9, 2025, from a NEXA showroom in Cuttack’s Cantonment area following a meticulous investigation by the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Police Commissionerate.
The case, registered as Infocity PS Case No. 440 on September 7, 2024, under sections 316(2), 324(5), 318(4), 338, 336(3), 340(2), and 351(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), was initiated based on a complaint lodged by Mohanty through a petition in the court of JMFC, COG-II, Bhubaneswar. The charges include cheating, fraud, forgery, and criminal intimidation, revealing a calculated scheme that preyed on Mohanty’s passion for luxury vehicles.
According to police reports, Mohanty met Sambit Panda on March 19, 2023. Panda introduced himself as a freelance car broker and claimed to be a former manager at Audi Bhubaneswar, leveraging this persona to gain Mohanty’s trust. Promising to deliver a luxury vehicle within a month, Panda persuaded Mohanty to transfer Rs 1,08,50,000 through multiple bank transactions. However, after securing the funds, Panda failed to deliver the vehicle and began evading Mohanty’s attempts to contact him. When pressed for updates, Panda allegedly resorted to verbal abuse and threats. Further investigation uncovered that Panda used forged documents to deceive Mahanti and had a history of defrauding others with similar tactics.
Sambit Panda, currently employed as a showroom manager at NEXA in Cuttack, resides at Sailashree Vihar, under Chandrasekharpur Police Station in Bhubaneswar.
The revelation that Sambit Panda is the son of Bidyut Chandra Panda, a retired police officer, has added a layer of intrigue to the case. It raises questions about the misuse of familial connections to establish credibility in fraudulent activities.
Acting on reliable intelligence, the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Police arrested Sambit Panda on June 9, 2025, at a NEXA showroom under the jurisdiction of the Cantonment Police Station in Cuttack. During interrogation, Panda confessed to the crime and implicated two accomplices in the fraud, though their identities remain undisclosed as the investigation continues. The police have stated that Panda and his associates deliberately targeted Mahanti, causing significant financial loss and endangering his well-being.
The arrest marks a significant breakthrough in the case, highlighting vulnerabilities in the luxury goods market.
As the investigation progresses, authorities are working to identify Panda’s accomplices and determine whether his fraudulent activities extend to other victims.
