Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate Police have arrested a man on charges of duping several women on the pretext of marriage by posing as an IB officer. He was married to five and linked to 49 women.
The accused has been identified as Satyajit Samal (34), a native of Jajpur district. He was residing at Prachi Vihar, Chandrasekharpur, in the city. A car, a motorcycle, Rs 2.10 lakh in cash, a pistol, some ammunition and two marriage agreement certificates have been seized from his possession. Three of his bank accounts have also been frozen.
Speaking to the media, Commissioner of Police (CP) Sanjeeb Panda said that they were unable to arrest him as he used to flee to Dubai after duping women. “A trap was laid through a woman cop, who lured him to return from Dubai by posing as Laila. He mostly targeted divorcees through matrimonial sites. He used to demand cash and car after promising to marry them. He also used to threaten them with a gun when they asked him to return the money,” he said.
The CP said that he was chatting with around 49 women on the matrimonial site. “We had received complaints about him from two victims in Bhubaneswar. He also got to know that he had signed marriage agreements with two more women in Delhi and Kolkata,” he said, adding that attempts are being made to contact the other victims.
Police began the probe on the basis of two complaints lodged against Satyajit at Capital police station on February 26.
One of the complainant alleged that she got in touch with him through a matrimonial site. Following which, they began to chat and meet regularly. Later, the accused forced her into a physical relationship on the pretext of marriage and demanded money to purchase a car. She took a personal loan from a bank and bought him a car worth around Rs 8.15 lakh for him. She also gave him Rs 36 lakh to start a business.
He had also trapped another woman in Bhubaneswar and took Rs 8.60 lakh and a bullet from her. The victims had availed personal loans from different banks to meet his demand. The accused used to lead a lavish lifestyle after duping these women and also lent out the cars to travel agencies, police added.