Bhubaneswar, April 15: The crime branch has decided to put up hoardings at strategic locations in major cities to educate people on the rising number of cheating cases.

A number of fraud firms have cropped up across the state that offer false promises of high returns to investors.

In the first phase, hoardings will be put up in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Balasore, Angul, Aska and Berhampur. Additional director general of police, crime branch, Bijoy Kumar Sharma, said: “Preliminary investigation suggests it may run into a few thousand crores. The places where the hoardings would be put up are those where cases of money circulation have been the highest.”

The hoardings are supposed to be ready in four months. “We are in touch with the finance department to get the concurrence for the required expenditure for the exercise,” Sharma said.

Sharma said the department came to know about the gravity of the crime when it stumbled upon a high-profile case involving nearly Rs 600 crore. “We have already put a number of people in jail,” he said.

Sharma said that the crime branch was in touch with a leading advertising company of the state to prepare text of the advertising material. “We will try to educate the people that one should not fall into the trap of these cheats,” he said.

Sharma said the companies attracted investors with assurances of high returns. “Some are even paid money as assured so that they can gain their confidence and get hold of more people to dupe.”

One of the victims, Syam Sunder Maharana, 55, a carpenter by profession said: “They assured me that I would get a good return. I deposited Rs 6.5 lakh in two instalments after I was approached by one of my relatives, who was working as an agent of that company.”

The agent concerned, Ashok Sahu, said: “I am not at fault. I never imagined I would be duped.”

Sources said the companies enticed people with attractive schemes. They often assure people that their money would double in two years and triple in three. In many cases, these companies also start short-term schemes of six months.

Nearly 1.5 lakh people have formed a group under the leadership of former MLA and teachers’ leader Bikram Keshari Burma and started demanding the government’s intervention to sort out their problem. “We will submit a memorandum to chief minister Naveen Patnaik on this issue on April 22,” said Burma.

The crime branch is also flooded with land-cheating cases. People have also been cheated with assurances to install telecom towers on their premises. However, they were first asked to deposit Rs 5,600 as installation charges.