Bhubaneswar, March 19: A fraudster, who had claimed to be a leading telecommunication company official, allegedly duped two persons of Rs 19,000, promising installation of mobile towers on their land.

The accused also allegedly molested the sister of one of the victims, who have lodged a police complaint. The complainant, Tuna Pradhan, a Balipatna resident, said the accused, who is around 40 years old, took his sister along with him to a bank in the city on the pretext of opening a joint account, which was necessary for mobile tower related cash transactions. He later molested her.

Though the incident took place yesterday, the police today registered a case and started investigation after getting a complaint.

The police said the criminal had promised a sum of Rs 5 lakh for each of the two families at Balipatana for installing mobile towers on their land. Later, he had invited the family members for paper works related to the installation.

“He engaged all of us in various kinds of work, including fetching court papers and stamps. He had promised Rs 10,000 as monthly rent for the mobile tower to both the families,” said Tuna Pradhan, the 30-year-old complainant.

The police said the man had approached the victims a month ago and was able to win their confidence.

The police said the man had also tried to molest Pradhan’s 25-year-old sister. When she did not return home even after several hours, her family members approached the police.

Later, it came to be known that the accused had dumped Pradhan’s sister after molesting her at an isolated place. He also threatened her with dire consequences if she complained to anyone.

“A case under sections 420 (cheating), 506 (criminal intimidation), 354 (outraging the modesty) and 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian penal has been registered, and we have started an investigation,” said inspector in charge of Kharavela Nagar police station Nihar Ranjan Pradhan.