Odisha Police arrests key accused in Rs 40-crore investment fraud
Bhubaneswar (PTI): Odisha Police's Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has arrested the prime accused in a Rs 40-crore trading fraud, an officer said on Friday.
The accused, identified as Amit Mandal of West Bengal's Bankura, was arrested from his home district on December 31, the officer said.
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After producing him in a local court there, Mandal was brought to Odisha on Friday, the EOW officer said.
The arrest was made in connection with a case registered on December 29 at the EOW police station on the basis of a complaint lodged by Sushant Kumar Das of Khurda district.
The complainant alleged that Mandal and his associates induced him to invest in share trading by promising high monthly returns ranging from 3.5 to 7 per cent per month.
Das had reportedly deposited Rs 8.5 lakh during 2022–2024.
According to police, Mandal induced around 500 depositors from Odisha and 100 from West Bengal between 2020 and 2024 and collected over Rs 120 crore, of which over Rs 40 crore is yet to be returned to investors.
"Initially, he paid monthly returns of depositors. However during 2023, Mandal failed to pay the returns and falsely assured the depositors that their money will be re-invested in his newly formed company. But suddenly he went missing before being arrested in Bankura district," the official said.
According to the EOW, the accused had been collecting deposits in his personal bank accounts maintained with two banks. "Scrutiny of one bank account revealed transactions amounting to Rs 122 crore. Other accounts are under verification," the officer said.
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New Year stabbings rock Delhi, leave 3 dead
New Delhi (PTI): The New Year evening was streaked with blood with three almost back-to-back stabbings leaving an equal number of people dead in Delhi.
Bihari Lal, 50, was allegedly stabbed in an attack by a group of juveniles when he asked them to stop shouting and playing loud music in northwest Delhi's Lal Bagh area.
A tailor by profession, Bihari Lal had just returned home Thursday evening from his job in Shastri Nagar, when he was faced with a raucous mob of revellers, whom he chastised for making noise.
"This led to a heated exchange, during which one of the juveniles stabbed Lal," a police officer said, adding that one of the boys kicked the victim several times during the fight.
Bihari Lal was rushed to Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
Police apprehended a juvenile in connection with the killing and seized the weapon of the crime. A hunt for the rest involved in the fight is on.
An FIR was registered at the Adarsh Nagar Police Station, and investigators are examining eyewitness accounts and CCTV footage from the area.
Bihari Lal's family and neighbours alleged that the group was notorious for creating disturbance in the area.
"He had just returned from duty and was parking his cycle when they came and started abusing everyone, throwing buckets, boxes and people's belongings. Bihari Lal only told them not to use abusive language and shout, as there were women and children around. That was all he said," Dimple, a neighbour, recounted.
Pushpa, a relative, alleged that the group had been terrorising residents for some time. "They keep throwing bottles, stones and sticks, and nobody does anything. We complained earlier, but no action was taken. The police never did anything," she said.
Pushpa said four boys were involved in the attack and "they stabbed him three times."
Hours later, in outer Delhi's Mangolpuri, an e-rickshaw driver, Vikas, was stabbed in a fight.
According to police, Vikas and his friend Sandeep, a daily-wage labourer, both aged 20, were sitting together when a group of youths started a fight with them.
"During the altercation, one of the accused stabbed Vikas, causing fatal injuries. Sandeep also suffered a minor lacerated wound," an officer said.
Both were taken to a nearby hospital, where Vikas was declared dead.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the victims and the attackers had bad blood, police said.
All six accused, four of them underage, involved in the stabbing were apprehended, police said.
The same evening, a 15-year-old boy was stabbed to death in nearby Sultanpuri.
Around 11.30 pm, police were informed that a group of men had attacked a minor with a knife.
"A police team rushed to the spot and found the injured boy lying on the road with multiple stab wounds," an officer said.
The victim, whose identity was not revealed by the police, was rushed to a hospital, where he was declared dead.
Vikram, a man aged about 30 with a history of crime, was arrested for allegedly killing the boy.
During interrogation, Vikram, who police said has six criminal convictions, revealed that two more men were with him at the time of the stabbing. A search for them has been launched.
The boy's mother said her son had been threatened several times before by the attackers, but police took no action.
"My son had gone out only to get some juice when a few people started abusing him, and a fight broke out. I ran downstairs from my sister's house and begged them not to harm my son. Instead, they took out a knife and attacked me. I somehow ran into a shop, where I saw my son being stabbed in front of my eyes," the boy's mother, Bali, said.
She said that the accused had earlier also entered her house armed with weapons. "I informed the police, but no action was taken."
The boy was her only son.
The motive of the killing is yet to be ascertained by the police.
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