4 Arrested In Bhubaneswar Taxi Driver's Death Case, Search On For 'Madam' Of Job Scam

Bhubaneswar: The Twin City Commissionerate Police have arrested four persons in connection with the death of a taxi driver, whose body was found at Chandaka-Baranga Road near Daruthenga on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar on September 20

The arrested have been identified as N Dilip Kumar (37), Ramesh Chandra Behera (56), Deepak Kumar Sahukar (30) and Rabindra Behera (50), all natives of Gajapati district.

They are said to be part of the group of persons, who had kidnapped Bidyadhar Sahoo (32) of Khurda district’s Aranga village after he allegedly cheated them of around Rs 1.5 crore on the promise of providing jobs.

Original educational certificates of job aspirants, 26 rubber stamps of various government/private organisations and mobile handsets of the accused were seized, along with the car and two mobile phones, belonging to the deceased.

Investigation revealed that Bidyadhar, a driver of an online cab services firm, was an associate of a woman, Jyostna Rani Khuntia, who worked at a job consultancy firm in the city. The duo is accused of cheating many youths in various districts of Odisha on the promise of providing them jobs. Bidyadhar collected money and original certificates from the job seekers.

Police have launched a search operation to nab the woman, often referred to as ‘madam’, who has been absconding since Bidyadhar’s abduction on September 15.

The kidnappers reportedly took the cab driver to Jajpur and then made a ransom call to his wife, Mamina Khatua. In the audio clip of the call, which has since gone viral, one of the kidnappers can be heard telling her that they would not harm her husband if they paid them Rs 2.4 crore ransom. He, however, allegedly died by suicide in the house in Jajpur, where he was held captive by the abductors.

They later disposed of his body and abandoned his cab near Daruthenga to make it appear like a case of murder.

After the body was recovered, police traced the person, who called up his wife. His interrogation revealed the constant confrontation with the job seekers while being held hostage, allegedly prompted Bidyadha to take the extreme step and he strangled himself using a towel on September 19.