The arrested have been identified as Abhinandan Barik (29) of Mayurbhanj and Rajesh Roshan Sahoo (30) of Jagatsinghpur. Two cars and Rs 5.47 lakh in cash were also seized from them.

The duo ran an office, DF Academy in IRC Village within Nayapalli police limits, and allegedly cheated several people on the promise of getting their wards admitted to B Tech, MBBS and other courses in reputed colleges in the city, sources said.

The main accused has been identified as Laxmi Narayan Samal (32), a dealing assistant at the SDA. The other arrested are Ajaya Behera (47) of Ainthapali, Bikash Jagat (36) of Badmal, Dambrudhara Tripathy (40) of Kuluthkani and Sudhansu Kishor Pati (59) of Jharuapada. Three cars, 22 files, two diaries, a notebook, bank statements, 22 stamps, five mobile phones, a computer and one laptop have been seized from their possession.

Police have also detected over Rs 3.31 crore in the accused’s bank accounts.

According to sources, the fraud came to the fore when Harikesh Bahadur Singh of Gopalpali and Sabita Bagar of Ainthapali applied for a housing loan in Bareipali branch of State Bank of India, using the building plan approval issued by the main accused. During verification, the approvals were found to be forged. The matter was then reported to the SDA and city planner of SDA, whose forged signature and seal were used in the approvals, filed a complaint in this connection.

Sambalpur SP Mukesh Kumar Bhamoo told the media that the accused lured people by assuring them to get their building plans approved at a lower rate in exchange for money. “Bikash took Rs 1,03,600 from Singh to get the approval without any hassles. An approval letter was issued to him on July 27 but it turned out to be fake. It is a case of organised crime. The act also amounted to a loss for the state exchequer,” he said.

Preliminary investigations revealed that 54 persons had been duped by the accused, who had been issuing forged building plan approvals since 2021 and demanding around Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh for the same.

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.

The arrested have been identified as Sk Faiyaz, Sk Shamshed, Sk Murad, all residents of Balubazaar in Balasore, and
Sandeep Nayak of Patrapada in the town.

Besides 1100gm of the contraband, a Boxor M/c and other incriminating materials were recovered from their possession. “The accused persons could not produce any valid authority in support of possession of such contraband materials, following which
they were arrested,” an STF release said.

A case has been registered under Section 21(c)/29 of NDPS Act 1985 and further investigation is on, it added.

Jabalpur and Nagpur Police arrested main accused Amit Sahu, alias Pappu, following a joint operation.

Sana, the Minority Wing Chief of BJP’s Maharashtra unit, had travelled from Nagpur to Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh on August 2 to meet Amit. She was scheduled to return home in two days’ time, but didn’t come back.

Sana’s family members got worried and went to Jabalpur to find her. Unable to find her or Amit, they got suspicious and approached police.

Amit, who is reportedly involved in a liquor smuggling business, ran a roadside eatery near Jabalpur. He and Sana had been having disputes over financial transactions.

Amit admitted to the murder of Sana during police interrogation.

He told police that he had beaten Sana so grievously at his house that she succumbed to her injuries. Amit then disposed of her body by throwing it into Hiran river, which is about 45 km from Jabalpur.

Cops are now conducting a thorough investigation at the crime scene with the arrested suspect, as they search for Sana’s body.

According to police, Sana and Amit had been having a long-standing dispute over money. When Sana came to Jabalpur, the couple had a heated argument following which Amit struck Sana on her head. It turned out to be a fatal blow.

The police mentioned involvement of a third individual in the case, and are on the lookout for this person.

The incident took place at Rajpatana when the girl was returning home in a bicycle on Friday. The accused persons stopped her and dragged her inside a vehicle before fleeing the site. They were proceeding towards Chandibasta area, according to sources.

On getting information about the incident, a team of police personnel tracked the vehicle which was heading towards Chandibasta. The cops chased and intercepted the vehicle near Chandibasta.

The girl was rescued and all the four accused persons were apprehended. Investigation into the incident is in progress and further details are awaited.

The accused have been identified as Raghunath Pradhan, Santosh Dora, Kishore Chandra and Jitendra Biswal.

The incident occurred at 2 pm on Tuesday during heavy rainfall when a 20-year-old youth entered the octogenarian woman’s house and forcefully gave her some food. After closing the door from inside, he allegedly raped the woman for multiple times.

When a neighbour called the woman asking for food, the former heard cry of the woman from inside. Smelling suspicious activities, the neighbour locked up the door from outside and informed the Dhanupali police.

At around 5 pm, the police found the victim in an unconscious condition. The accused youth was hiding under the bed after the crime as he had no option to flee.

The police rescued the woman victim in a critical condition and rushed her to the Sambalpur DHH for treatment.

Sources said that the victim is undergoing treatment at medicine ward of the state-run hospital.

The accused has been detained for interrogation.

The deceased has been identified as Lili Dandapat and her husband, the accused, as Arjun Dandapat. 

Sources said, the couple had a quarrel over some issues on Monday night. The scene turned ugly when Arjun lost his cool and attacked his wife with a sharp weapon. A profusely bleeding Lili collapsed on the ground. 

Their ten-year-old girl raised an alarm following which family members rushed to their room only to see Lili lying in a pool of blood. 

On being informed, a team from Jaleswar police station reached the spot, seized the body for post mortem, and detained Arjun.  

While the couple’s daughter was claiming that she had seen her father attacking her mother, the deceased’s parents demanded justice. 

“We have sent the body for post-mortem. Since her (the deceased’s) husband is in an unconscious state, we have also hospitalized him. After necessary medical examination, the follow-up action will be taken against him,” informed SDPO, Jaleswar, Dilip Sahoo.

Phanindra Subramanya, the Managing Director, and Vinu Kumar, the CEO, of the Aeronics Internet Company died on the way to the hospital. The incident occurred at Pampa Extension in Amrithahalli, a residential area where Aeronics was functioning from a house converted into an office building, agencies reported.

The attacker, Felix, is on the run, said DCP North East, Bengaluru, Lakshmi Prasad. The accused had a similar business and reports say that the now murdered men were interfering.