2 arrested for duping elderly woman of Rs 26L

Rourkela: Two men were arrested on Thursday night for allegedly duping an elderly woman of Rs 26 lakh by pretending to sell her a house. Sudeshna Padhi, 66, wife of Gopinath Padhi of Chhend Colony, reported that in 2020, Ajaya Kumar Mohanty, 58, informed her that Tej Kumar Francis, 58, intended to sell his house and convinced her to purchase it for Rs 38.71 lakh.On March 4, 2020, Padhi paid Rs 10 lakh as advance to Francis, who claimed the actual owner was his relative, Indumati Mohanty and assured her the house would be registered in her name. An agreement was signed in Feb 2021 between Indumati Mohanty and Padhi’s daughter, Padmalaya Padhi.However, Francis failed to appear at the registration office to finalise the sale. Meanwhile, Ajaya Mohanty received Rs 16 lakh from Padhi through cheques and UPI transfers. Padhi later discovered that Ajaya Kumar Mohanty and Tej Kumar Francis had deceived her. When Padhi demanded her money back, they refused, allegedly abused her, and even threatened her life.Padhi lodged a complaint with Chhend police on May 20. Following investigation, police arrested Ajaya of Jagatsinghpur district currently residing in Chhend, and Tej Kumar Francis of Chhend colony on Thursday. Documents were seized from them and their bank accounts were frozen.“We have arrested the duo,” said B K Singh, inspector in-charge, Chhend police station. Francis has been residing in the house listed under Indumati’s name in Chhend Colony. Francis’s father lived there as a caretaker, but Francis continued to reside there after his death and planned to sell the house along with Mohanty.