The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the State Crime Branch on Sunday arrested managing director of a city-based real estate firm Siridi Sai Real Estate Private limited Prakash Panda for allegedly duping his customers of Rs 10 crore by giving them false promises of offering flats and plots in the city, said Crime Branch DIG Rajesh Kumar at a Press meet here.
Panda, who hails from Durgadeipatna of Bankual under the Sahid Nagar police limits, was arrested from Keutasahi in Kapilaprasad here. The EOW seized two Ford cars from the possession of the builder and charged him under Sections 120 (B), 420, 406, 467, 468, 471, 34 of IPC read with Section 6 of the Odisha Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act 2011, said the DIG.
Though the company didn’t have the required quantum of land and transferable rights in Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Puri, the DIG said, the accused had made wide publicity and issued brochures inviting the public to purchase plots and flats of various sizes in these areas on easy installments.
Panda had given advertisements of his seven different projects like Sai Enclave, Dhabaleswar Vihar, Bira Pratappur, Krushna Saranpur, Krushna Vihar, Sainagar and Bhagabati Nagar at different locations on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri.
When the customers didn’t get their plots and flats, they went to the High Court seeking justice. In April 2013, following Odisha High Court’s direction in a writ petition, the CB had registered a case against Panda.
Kumar said that Panda was running his head office at Bhubaneswar and regional offices at Soro, Bhadrak, Baripada, Chandanpur, Biramitrapur, Puri, Baleswar and Cuttack.
“It was the third such land fraud case by builders in the State after the Hi-Tech Group and the Umamani Home Creation Private limited,” said Kumar, adding, “Investigation is on to arrest other members of the company involved in the land fraud case.”