Rayagada: Police have arrested four persons, including a sub-inspector (SI), on charges of duping a trader of Rs 5.45 lakh on the pretext of giving him a coin of Lord Hanuman in Rayagada district on Thursday. The coins, carrying the image of Lord minted in 1818, fetch high price for their antiquity.

The arrested SI, Rohit Mallick, is posted at the special branch in Bhubaneswar. Other arrested persons are Prasad Rao, Uma Rao and Dhanurjay Bag, all residents of Rayagada district. However, the mastermind of the crime, Ajit Bhatra, is absconding. They had duped one T. Ranga Rao, a trader of Vishakapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

Uma Rao had acted as a middleman and had introduced the trader with the other accused persons. While the arrested SI had fixed the price for the deal, Prasad Rao acted as an expert to examine the originality of the coin and Bag and Bhatra acted as the original owners of the coin.

"Three months ago, the accused had met the trader and fixed the deal for the Hanuman coin of the year 1818 at Rs 10 lakh. They had taken Rs 5.45 lakh from Ranga Rao in four instalments through electronic fund transfer since February," said Rabi Patro, inspector in charge of Rayagda police station.

However, as the gang members kept on postponing the dates of delivery of the coin, the trader suspected foul play and filed a complaint at Rayagada police station on April 14, following which the police initiated an investigation.

"Based on the call records and bank transactions, the gang members were traced and arrested. They have confessed to committing the crime. However, Bhatra, who is the kingpin of the racket, is absconding. Efforts are on to nab him," said Patro.

Mallick was posted in Rayagada till a few years ago and had contacts with criminals in the area.