Depositors, who were deceived by a private finance company, gather at Paradip police station. Telegraph picture

Paradip, May 30: Paradip police have arrested a couple on charges of deceiving local residents to the tune of Rs 1 crore.

The couple — Baijeyendra Panda, 45, and Manjulata Panda, 38 — have been taken into custody and are being interrogated, the police said.

“They are accused of deceiving local people, mostly women, to the tune of Rs 1 crore. From the preliminary investigation, it has been found that some persons based in Bhubaneswar have masterminded the racket,” said Jagatsinghpur superintendent of police Satyabrata Bhoi.

Many home-makers in Paradip port town had deposited money in a private finance company. Later, when the company had disappeared with the deposits, the victims lodged separate police complaints.

The self-styled deposit collection company was giving away hefty returns on the deposits made by the investors. It had pledged to pay double the amount of the savings.

The police said most of the depositors were not well off.

A case of fraud under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered and the economic offence wing of the state police has been informed.

“After the deposit collection scam, the district police had issued precautionary advisory to the people not to be enticed by institutions dealing in illegal money circulation. It’s unfortunate that the people did not pay heed to it,” said Bhoi.

The poor depositors were in for a shock one day when they found the company’s local branch shut.

The company officials remained incommunicado with their mobile phones switched off. It was then that the depositors went to the police.

The fraud finance company had managed to enrol over 10,000 depositors in its various schemes through a network of agents and sales executives.

“I had invested Rs 20,000 and they promised to get me Rs 40,000 in August 2016. My savings are now gone. We are poor people. My husband works as a casual labourer in Paradip port,” said Sabita Baral from Sukhuakhola on the outskirts of the port township.