In a significant breakthrough, Cuttack Urban Police District (UPD) has arrested a notorious gold and silver smith accused of defrauding local jewellers out of precious metals worth lakhs of rupees.
Tapas Maity, a 40-year-old professional artisan from West Bengal, was apprehended in a coordinated interstate operation and produced before the court on February 23, 2026.
The case dates back to June 15, 2025, when Ramesh Kumar Deo, a 42-year-old jeweller from Kazi Bazar in Cuttack, filed a complaint at Lalbag Police Station. According to the report, Deo and several other jewellers and smiths had entrusted Maity with 1 kg 887 grams of gold and 784 grams of silver to craft ornaments. Maity, who operated a workshop in Alamchand Bazar, allegedly took the materials under various pretexts but failed to deliver the finished products.
In April 2025, the victims discovered that Maity had fled his shop and rented house in Cuttack. When confronted over the phone, he reportedly refused to return the items, hurled abuses, and threatened the jewellers with harm from “Bangladeshi goons” if they pursued him. This led to the registration of Lalbag PS Case No. 244 under sections 318(4), 316(2), 316(5), 296, and 351(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), covering charges of cheating, criminal breach of trust, and criminal intimidation.
After nearly a year on the run, police acted on credible intelligence and tracked Maity to Tulia near Tamluk in Purba Medinipur district, West Bengal. On February 20, 2026, a team from Lalbag PS, with assistance from Tamluk Police Station, raided the location and arrested him. During the operation, authorities seized 147 bracelet-like items resembling silver, weighing approximately 4 kg 450 grams, and additional round-shaped objects resembling silver, weighing about 550 grams. These items were recovered in the presence of independent witnesses.
Maity hails from Harekrishnapur under Daspur PS in Paschim Medinipur, West Bengal, but had been residing in Kazi Bazar, Cuttack, during his operations. He was formally arrested on February 20 and remanded to judicial custody after being forwarded to the court on February 23. The investigation remains ongoing, with police probing potential links to similar frauds or an organised network.
The arresting team was led by Inspector Satyabrata Bhutia, IIC of Lalbag PS, along with SI Subhrajit Mangual, OAPF/255 Niranjan Hikaka, and OAPF/163 Pratima Kanhar.
