The accused has collected Rs 3-4 lakh each from around 60 youths by giving them false assurances of providing jobs in banks and other organisations. He duped the job aspirants by falsely introducing himself as the close relative of the Chief Secretary and the Collector. He even showed fake orders from the High Court and letters from the Collector to dupe the youths,” said Debabrata Das, a victim. “Ramesh took lakhs of rupees from us by falsely assuring us to provide the ownership of a wine shop. We sold our lands to give him money. However, nothing happened. He even threatened us not to disclose the matter before anybody,” said Arati Das, another victim. Based on the complaints of the victims, Soro police arrested Ramesh who has academic qualifications only up to fifth class. “By giving false assurances and showing false official letters, the accused had duped several vulnerable youths. Based on the complaints of the victims, Ramesh has been arrested. Further investigation into the incident is currently underway,” said Balasore Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Sasanka Sekhar Beura.
In a last-minute exercise, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has changed its candidate for the Soro Assembly seat. The party has replaced Parshuram Dhada with Raju Das.
The party had earlier fielded BJD turncoat Raju Das from the Soro Assembly seat. Taking all by surprise, the party on Tuesday announced that it has nominated Parshuram Dhada in place of Das.
Informing about the development, Odisha election in-charge of the party, Vijaypal Singh Tomar said, “We have a parliamentary board, which takes the final decision. The board has now taken a decision and given the ticket to Parshuram Dhada.”
Interestingly enough, today being the last date for filing nomination papers, both Das and Dhada filed their nomination papers.
In the 2009 elections, Dhada had unsuccessfully contested from Soro Assembly seat on a BJP ticket. He then switched over to BJD and was elected to the Odisha Legislative Assembly twice in 2014 and 2019.
In the 2024 elections, when the BJD denied him a ticket and fielded Madhav Dhada, he resigned from the party and joined the BJP.
