Bhubaneswar: Four persons claiming themselves as listed brokers of Bombay Stock Exchange were arrested by Khandagiri police on Monday for allegedly duping Rs 17 lakh from a person promising him 400 per cent interest through foreign investment.

The accused were arrested from a hotel in Khandagiri while trying to pursue others to invest money.

The accused have been identified as Nabin, 32, Ganeshan S.K, 54, both hailing from Coimbatore, Jaydip Prakash Kulkarni, 43, of Vadodara and Naren N, 33, of Bangalore.

The police said the case was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by Rajesh Kumar Patra, 27, who is a digital marketer by profession. "They trapped Patra though WhatsApp in February. The gang used to lure the victims to buy foreign currency and invest it in international markets. The gang promised to give 400 per cent return on their investment," said deputy commissioner of police Anup Kumar Sahoo.

The police said one of the accused visited Bhubaneswar in February to collect the money from the victim. "Once the victim gave the money the accused returned to Tamil Nadu and started playing tricks with the victim. The victim requested him several times to refund his money but the accused later switched off their phones," said a police officer.

Patra, however got some information about one of the accused who reached Bhubaneswar on Sunday. "He immediately lodged a police complaint and we raided the hotel in Khandagiri where the accused were trying to lure other people. We have also seized foreign currencies including dollars, euros and riyadhs," said the police officer. Investigation by the police revealed that the accused encouraged people to invest not less that Rs 10 lakh.