Bhubaneswar, June 13: Police froze bank accounts that hold Rs 20 lakh of APS Solutions Pvt Ltd, which had allegedly duped crores of rupees from more than 200 persons by roping them in to prepare e-books for its foreign clients.

The police have also identified several office-bearers, including two women, of the firm on the basis of information provided by retired Captian of Indian Navy, Nrusingh Prasad Patnaik, whom the cops arrested on June 9.

The police said they had so far screened around 15 bank accounts of the company and found a balance of around Rs 20 lakh.

"Further investigation revealed that the firm had assigned the job of scanning of a single book to the agents several times. They were happy to deposit money to get the scanning contract. By doing this, the firm managed to win the confidence of its agents and later swindled crores of rupees," said a police official.

The three-day remand period of Patnaik was completed today, following which he was again sent to judicial custody.

The police are also trying to establish the link between the APS Solutions Pvt Ltd with Kharavela Nagar-based fake firm Inner Quality Business Solutions Pvt Ltd, which had also duped more than 200 persons in a similar fashion. "Both firms were set up in June last year and duped agents in similar fashion. So, we suspect a common link between the two," he said.

Two arrested

The state crime branch today arrested two persons from Bihar for allegedly cheating a Khurda-based businessman by assuring him a dealership of LPG gas under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjawala Yojana meant for providing free LPG connections to BPL category women.

The sleuths today arrested Rajesh Kumar Patel, 42, and Kanhaiya Sahani, 41, for hoodwinking the businessman, Rabi Narayan Behera, of around Rs 12 lakh. The police said both the accused had opened a fake website (www.ujjwalargglvy.com) last year and invited application from seeking dealership of the gas distribution under the central scheme.

"The victim filled the required forms online and paid Rs 11.92 lakh in phases between June and October last year. After getting the money, both of the accused blocked the portal. The victim came to know about the fraud after none came to inspect his godown, which he had constructed to store cylinders. He lodged a formal complaint in January," said a crime branch official.