Fake naval officer held in Odisha for duping youths with jobs

Bhubaneswar: Police on Tuesday arrested a fake naval officer on charges of duping unemployed youths of over Rs 25 lakh by promising them of jobs in the institutions like Bhubaneswar AIIMS and OPTCL.

The accused was identified as Anil Kumar Routray (40) of Banki in Cuttack district. He was staying in Kalinga Vihar, on outskirts of Bhubaneswar.

Anil, posing as a naval officer, runs a hotel near petrol pump located in Tamando. He also runs a placement firm titled ‘Talent care consultancy’ at K-5 in Kalinga Vihar, Tamando police said.

Earlier, he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a youth, police said.

According to complaint lodged by Sushma Manjari Dei of Cuttack district, Anil duped her son Biswajit Pradhan of Rs 1.5 lakh on pretext of providing him job in OPTCL. Neither her son got appointment letter nor the accused returned her money. She approached Tamando police and lodged a complaint against Anil.

Following the report, around 25 youths, who were duped by Anil earlier, also reached Tamando police station and lodged complaints. They alleged that Anil cheated them by promising of jobs in the institutions like OPTCL and AIIMS in Bhubaneswar.

On the basis of allegations made by 25 youths along with Sushma, Tamando police raided the hotel owned by Anil and arrested him yesterday.