Jaipur’s SDPO along with the accused. Archita Mittal

Koraput: A day after the arrest of a 34-year-old man in Rourkela for his involvement in fraud cases across Odisha, police on Sunday said investigation revealed that he had duped his victims of nearly Rs 1 crore since 2016.According to the police, Laxmikant Panda had allegedly duped several people by promising them subsidized loans, financial assistance and opening bank accounts. During investigation, the police uncovered his links to fraud cases registered in Cuttack, Puri, Jajpur, Balasore and Bhadrak. The investigators also found that he was absconding in earlier cases and a non-bailable warrant was issued against him in Balasore district. “The accused appears to be a habitual offender involved in organized economic crimes. The assets found in his possession were far beyond his income and he failed to satisfactorily explain the source of the assets recovered from him. These findings are corroborated by the complaints lodged by multiple victims in separate FIRs,” said Jeypore SDPO Archita Mittal.Police said the investigation began when several residents lodged a complaint at the Jeypore Town police station on May 11 that Panda had cheated them. During investigation, technical evidence and intelligence inputs gathered with the help of cyber cell revealed that the accused was hiding in Rourkela, following which a special team was formed to nab him.After this the police raided his hideout in Rourkela and arrested him. During the search and seizure operation conducted in the presence of independent witnesses, valuables worth approximately Rs 20 lakh were recovered and confiscated after proper legal procedures.Meanwhile, the police appealed to the public to remain alert against fraudulent financial schemes. “People should not trust promises of quick returns or loans at concessional interest rates. Citizens should never share OTP with anyone and should use digital payment modes, which help in traceability and serve as evidence during investigation,” Mittal said.