Crime Branch quizzes key accused Manoj’s wife in fake certificate case; more arrests likely

Bolangir: Odisha Crime Branch today interrogated the prime accused Manoj Mishra’s wife Pooja in a major fake certificate case. She was questioned at Bolangir Town police station here.

After ascertaining that Manoj was previously using Pooja’s bank account, a probe team of the anti-crime agency threw questions at her to gather vital information, a senior official stated.

Besides, the Crime Branch team quizzed Manoj and his close aide Alok Ranjan Udgata in connection with the case at Reserve Police on the second day of remand along with two candidates namely Tribihari Panda and Pares Budek, who by utilising forged documents had applied for government jobs and were also arrested. The remand was sought in order to ascertain facts, elicit further information as well as ascertain the detailed modus operandi of crime. More arrests are likely, the Crime Branch source added.

Meanwhile, Alok’s wife Sonia reached the Town police station after she got summoned by CB.

It is pertinent to mention, the Crime Branch IG Amitendra Sinha earlier had reviewed the progress of the ongoing probe after reaching Bolangir. SP Kusalkar Nitin Dagudu accompanied IG Sinha.

Allegedly, Manoj and Alok duped one Rajat Kumar Nayak of Rs 5 lakh by promising him a job.

The residential houses of Manoj and Alok were thoroughly searched a couple of days ago for locating incriminating materials. During the investigation, the role of family members in assisting the accused in laundering money earned through fraudulent activities has also been examined.

The investigation agency previously registered two separate CID-CB PS cases [No-05/2023 and 06/2023 corresponding to Bolangir Town PS cases No-141, dated-24.03.2023 under Sections 467/468/471 and 34 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 143, dated-26.03.2023 under the Sections 420/465/467/468/471 and 34 of the IPC] respectively in this connection and had launched a probe.