25-year-old man arrested for cheating elderly man of over Rs 1.10 crore in Ganjam

Berhampur: A 25-year old man was arrested on Sunday for allegedly duping an elderly man in Ganjam district of over Rs 1.10 crore on the pretext of selling a patch of land about four months ago.

The accused was identified as Nanda Kishor Gouda, a resident of Patrapalli.Police said Gouda and his associate had shown a patch of land in Bellaguntha to Sanyasi Panda, 65, of Thengadhar for sale. To purchase the land, Panda paid over Rs 1.10 crore to the accused in 12 phases.Despite asking Gouda repeatedly for registration of the land, he allegedly kept delaying citing various causes. He along with his associates then fled after some days and switched off their mobile phones, police said.Realising he was cheated, Panda lodged an FIR in Bellaguntha police station on June 26. After registering a cheating case, police launched an investigation to trace the accused.“Acting on a tip-off, a police team went to Bhanjanagar and arrested Gouda,” said Deepak Kumar Mishra, sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), Bhanjanagar. He said a search was on to apprehend Gouda’s associate.Police suspect the accused might have cheated more persons on the pretext of selling lands as another man has lodged a complaint against Gouda for cheating him of around Rs 36 lakh. Police said that the fresh complaint was being investigated and related documents being verified.Rebati Sabar, inspector in-charge of Bellaguntha police station, appealed to people to come forward and lodge complaints if they had been duped by Gouda.