Duped investors lodge case against Cuttack trader

Reported by Santosh Jagdev
Bhubaneswar, Jan 20:

Hundreds of duped investors today lodged a complaint with Crime Branch here against a Cuttack-based trader for cheating through a fraudulent scheme two years ago.

Parsuram Nanda, one of the complainant told OST that Banka Bihari Sadangi, the owner of a TVS showroom named Sushil Motors located near Nishamani Talkies in Cuttack had duped around Rs 2 crore through a sales promotional scheme two years ago.

According to Nanda, it was a lottery type of a scheme valid for 25 months during which a total of 400 people were to be enrolled by depositing Rs 2000. The winner in each month’s lottery were be given a TVS Wego and his name would be deleted from the list of contenders. For the next month, it was to continue with the remaining 399 as participants on payment of another instalment of Rs 2000, Nanda said.

After the end of the 25th month of the lottery scheme, either the deposited money or TVS Wego which costs Rs 50,000 will be returned to the remaining 375 people, said the victim, adding, “We also have the money receipts for every single payment of Rs 2000 we have made to Sadangi’s agent during the lottery period.”

Sadangi, the owner of the TVS showroom, continued the scheme for 23 months and then downed the shutters of his showroom in September last year after taking more than Rs 2 crore from 377 people, the complaint report of Nanda alleged.

Sadangi had refunded money to the people through cheques that bounced and when banks refused to honour the cheques, the investors went to Sadangi’s house at Nua Rausapatna in Cuttack several times only to return emty-handed.

On November 10 last year, the duped depositors got to know that owner’s residence was locked from outside and his phone numbers were switched off.

“ Since November, we have tried our best to contact Sadangi many but it was all in vain. That explains why we have lodged three separate complaints with the office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Badambadi Police station in Cuttack and the Crime Branch. We want that Sadangi be arrested,” said Nanda.

The duped depositors said Sadangi’s two brothers Gagan Bihari Sadangi and Sushil Bihari Sadangi, who own a firm called Tarun Traders at Canal Road, Cuttack were also involved in the fraud and need to be arrested.

When asked, CB officials said they have received a complaint in this regard and will very soon investigate into this matter.