Cuttack, July 20 (UDN): The Commissionerate Police have arrested two youths for allegedly cheating people by promising to clear pending traffic challans at discounted rates through fake social media accounts and issuing forged court receipts as proof of payment.
The accused have been identified as Raja Das (29) of Tihidi in Bhadrak district and Rajat Kumar Lenka (26) of Bhadrak Rural area. Police said Raja is a law graduate (B.A., LL.B.), while Rajat holds a B.Tech degree and an MBA.
The fraud came to light after a complainant reported being duped by social media pages operating under the name “All India RTO Challan” on Facebook and Instagram. The pages claimed to facilitate the settlement of pending traffic challans across the country at concessional rates.
According to the police, after establishing contact through social media, the accused shifted the conversation to WhatsApp and persuaded the complainant to share details of pending traffic challans. They allegedly collected money from the victim and issued forged court receipts to create the impression that the challans had been legally cleared.
The scam was exposed when the complainant produced the receipts before a court, where they were found to be fake. Following the complaint, police launched an investigation and discovered that the accused had allegedly cheated the victim of ₹2.70 lakh.
Using technical evidence and analysis of financial transactions, investigators tracked down and arrested both accused.
During searches, police seized 61 forged court receipt slips, three mobile phones, one laptop, 11 ATM cards, two PAN cards, and two Aadhaar cards allegedly used in the fraud.
Investigators suspect that several other people may have fallen victim to the racket and are probing the involvement of additional individuals.
The Commissionerate Police have urged the public to remain cautious of fraudulent social media pages or individuals claiming to settle traffic challans at discounted rates. Citizens have been advised to verify pending challans and make payments only through authorised government portals or official channels to avoid falling prey to online scams.