Bhubaneswar Accused arrested in Rs 2.93 crore franchise fraud case

Bhubaneswar: Infocity police have arrested a 51-year-old alleged fraudster in connection with a franchise and job scam worth over ₹2.93 crore near the West Bengal-Nepal border, officials said on Sunday.

The accused, identified as Sachidanand Bhoi, a resident of Katka, allegedly posed as the CEO and director of Go Speedy Go, a unit of HIFERK Technologies Pvt. Ltd. in Patia, Bhubaneswar, and duped several people into investing in franchises. He promised them full business support, assured returns, and high profits. Police said Bhoi also falsely claimed to be the son of former MP Krupasindhu Bhoi to gain investors’ trust. He allegedly recruited several employees by promising them regular salaries.

According to investigators, Bhoi ran the company for about two months, then closed the office after collecting investors’ money and disappeared.

Despite repeated attempts, the victims were unable to contact him and subsequently filed a complaint at the Infocity police station.

Based on the complaint, police registered case number 507 and began an investigation.

After persistent efforts, Bhoi was arrested near the West Bengal-Nepal border with the help of Kharibari police.

He was then brought to Bhubaneswar on a four-day transit remand granted by the ACJM court in Siliguri.

During the investigation, police discovered that Bhoi had allegedly collected approximately ₹2.30 crore from franchise holders and withheld approximately ₹63 lakh in salary and other employee dues.

Police said he neither provided the promised business support nor paid the employees before absconding.

Zone VI ACP Manas Ranjan Pradhan said, “He has several criminal cases pending against him at the Shaheed Nagar, Pahla, and CID Crime Branch police stations, besides pending consumer complaints and a non-bailable warrant.”

Police said further investigations are underway to trace the other accused involved.