Bhubaneswar, May 14: Jitendra Sahu's dream to have his own house in the city was shattered when he came to know that the plot, which he had bought from a builder, was found registered in someone else's name.

Sahu, 45, a native of Balianta, had also paid an advance of Rs 5 lakh for the 2,000sqft plot near Pandara in 2012. "The builder had asked me to give another Rs 25 lakh to get possession of the land, and I paid it last year as well. Later, I was shocked to find out that the land belonged to someone else," said Sahu, a software engineer working in Bangalore.

A shocked Sahu then tried to contact the builder at his office at Rasulgarh but in vain. "I called him up several times, and he promised me of money refund. But one year has passed and he has not yet returned it. I was forced to seek police help," he said.

Like Sahu, hundred others in the city have been duped by fraud builders in the recent past. In 2013 and 2014, the police registered cases against 115 builders and arrested 65 for cheating. Besides, the crime branch's economic offences wing, too, registered around 30 such cases in 2014 and arrested as many as 28 people.

An official of the economic offences wing said the amount of fraud would be Rs 300 crore, while a police official said in Bhubaneswar alone it would be more than Rs 200 crore. The builders, who had allegedly cheated customers, included Hitech Builder, Sarala Realcon, Umamani Home Creations, Darubrahma Builder Pvt Ltd and Siridi Sai Real-estate.

The police said the builders used to attract customers through colourful brochures and advertisements. Some of them also claim to provide plots at cheaper prices with instalment facility. "They would take the customers for a visit to the plot and convince them that most of the plots have been sold out and a few are left," said a police official.

Once the customer pays the advance, they would start delaying the process of land allotment. "When it comes to money refund, the employees of the concerned builder would not let the customer meet him," said a police official.

Deputy commissioner of police Satyabrata Bhoi said cases were being registered against builders. "The buyers need to keep all documents, including receipts, which can be produced at the time of registering their complaints," Bhoi said.

On the other hand, a realtor said the buyers should do some homework before purchasing any property. "They need to verify whether the plot or flat has the Bhubaneswar Development Authority's approval. Besides, they should verify it by getting an encumbrance certificate," said Real Estate Developers' Association of Odisha president Pradipta Kumar Biswas Roy.