Man arrested for multi-crore land fraud

Bhubaneswar: The economic offences wing (EOW) of the crime branch on Saturday arrested Dillip Kumar Nayak, a BJD member who contested from Nimapara assembly seat, on charges of duping a man of crores of rupees with false promises of getting him land.

The arrest took place in Cuttack following a detailed probe into allegations of fraud and breach of trust.EOW officials said the case stems from a complaint filed by Bijay Rout of Ranihat Malisahi, Cuttack.Rout accused Nayak of inducing him to invest in a real estate venture promising him land in city’s Pandara area. Rout reportedly paid Rs 7.42 crore with an additional Rs 2 crore being paid by his wife. However, Nayak allegedly bought the land in his own name.“Nayak failed to return the money or provide land despite assuring to do so. He issued 35 cheques amounting to Rs 10.5 crore, many of which were dishonoured due to insufficient funds or signature mismatches, suggesting deliberate intent to defraud,” an EOW officer said.The investigation revealed between 2015 and 2017, Nayak extracted Rs 3 crore from Rout for business investments and Rs 4 crore in 2018 for land in Bajrakbati, Cuttack.

Later, he took Rs 3.42 crore for land in Patia and Rs 3 crore for forming a company and returned only Rs 1 crore.Other than the Rs 12.42 crore fraud, Nayak allegedly took Rs 3.5 crore to buy 5 acres of land at Trisulia but he became a joint owner clandestinely without Rout’s knowledge.During a search of Nayak’s residence, authorities recovered incriminating documents, including sale deeds and power of attorney agreements, which are currently under scrutiny.Nayak was produced in court that denied him bail and remanded him to judicial custody.