Five Arrested For Issuing Fake Building Approval Plan In Sambalpur
Five people have been arrested, including a Sambalpur Development Authority (SDA) employee, for allegedly defrauding many applicants under the guise of building plan approval.
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Sambalpur: Five people have been arrested, including a Sambalpur Development Authority (SDA) employee, for allegedly defrauding many applicants under the guise of building plan approval.
Laxmi Narayan Samal (32), a dealing assistant at the SDA, has been named as the main accused. Ajaya Behera (47) of Ainthapali, Bikash Jagat (36) of Badmal, Dambrudhara Tripathy (40) of Kuluthkani, and Sudhansu Kishor Pati (59) of Jharuapada were also arrested. They were arrested with three cars, 22 files, two diaries, a notebook, bank statements, 22 stamps, five mobile phones, a computer, and one laptop.
In addition, police discovered over Rs 3.31 crore in the accused's bank accounts.
According to sources, the fraud was discovered when Harikesh Bahadur Singh of Gopalpali and Sabita Bagar of Ainthapali applied for a housing loan at the State Bank of India's Bareipali branch using the main accused's building plan approval. The approvals were discovered to be forged during verification. The incident was then reported to the SDA, and the city planner of the SDA, whose forged signature and seal were used in the approvals, filed a complaint.
SP Sambalpur According to Mukesh Kumar Bhamoo, the accused enticed people by promising to get their building plans approved at a lower cost in exchange for money. "Bikash paid Singh Rs 1,03,600 to get the approval without any problems." On July 27, he received an approval letter, which turned out to be a forgery. It is an instance of organized crime. "The act also resulted in a financial loss for the state exchequer," he added.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the accused had duped 54 people by issuing forged building plan approvals since 2021 and demanding between Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 5 lakh for them.
A case under Sections 420, 468 and 471 of the IPC and further investigation is underway to ascertain the involvement of other persons in the fraud, the SP added.
