The Commissionerate police have arrested a man on the charge of online fraud through a matrimonial website. The accused, identified as Nrusingha Pradhan, was nabbed following a complaint by one of the victims.
Pradhan had opened an account in the name of his wife Deepa on ‘Bharat Matrimony’. He put up a fake profile picture and then browsed potential candidates and came across a youth with whom he started conversing as a woman. During subsequent chats, he first evinced interest in the boy and then went on requesting for money citing financial hardships and health problems.
The boy fell for the claims and transferred money to Nrusingha in three installments through Gpay. However, when he asked to meet the accused, he did not get any response. Suspecting foul play, he reached out to Cyber Police and filed a complaint.
After a case was registered, police started a probe. Investigation revealed that Nrusingha was impersonating his wife and duping people by extorting money after luring them into fake matrimonial prospects.
“A SIM card and an ATM card along with Rs 1.61-lakh cash have been seized from possession of the accused. We have written to the Bharat Matrimony website team as we suspect the accused could have defrauded many people in a similar manner. Investigation is underway,” informed Bhubaneswar DCP Prateek Singh.
