Soro: A fraudster was arrested late last night for allegedly duping several youths of more than Rs 2 Crore by promising them to provide jobs in banks and other prominent organisations in Balasore district.

The accused was identified as Ramesh Chandra Padhi from Manitri village of this panchayat under Soro police limits of the district, Soro SDPO Sashank Sekhar Beura said mediapersons today.

According to a police source, accused Ramesh had collected Rs 3 Lakh each from one Sanjay Kumar Panda and 21 other youths on the pretext of getting them appointed in different banks, in 2019. Sanjay hails from Chaparpada village of Sajanpur panchayat. Sanjay and 21 others resorted to the court of law when they learned that all of them had been cheated by the accused man. Subsequently, they were confirmed by the banks that no advertisements were published for recruitment.

At least nine cheating cases are pending in different police stations of Balasore district against Ramesh, including one in Keonjhar. The fraudster was forwarded to a local court later in the day.