BHUBANSWAR: More than a month after 34-year-old Jajpur native, Satyajit Managobind Samal, was arrested by city police for deceiving 49 prospective brides across the country, the state crime branch on Friday apprehended another man for allegedly marrying over a dozen women in different states and blackmailing them by recording their objectionable videos.
The accused, identified as Biranchi Narayan Nath (43) of Chhendipada in Angul district, allegedly preyed on unmarried women, widows and divorcees in Odisha, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Delhi.
Most of the victims were employed in different sectors.
‘Accused posed as central govt officer’
The accused, posing as a prospective groom, uploaded his fake profiles on various matrimonial sites under the tagline – ‘second marriage’. “He had several names and took up various professions, sometimes a railway officer or an Income Tax officer and even a customs and central excise officer,” a senior crime branch officer said about Nath, who did his post graduation in political science.
A woman from Cuttack lodged a complaint against Nath last week after she discovered his modus operandi. The woman, whose husband died in a road accident in 2022, uploaded her profile on a matrimonial site in Oct 2023, with the hope of marrying again. She received a proposal from Nath, who introduced himself as Pravakar Srivastav from Odisha’s Talcher area and said he worked as a TTE (travelling ticket examiner) at Visakhapatnam.
Nath stated that he had lost his wife and mother. On Oct 7, 2023, he visited the victim’s home and expressed his desire to proceed with the marriage proposal. “While the victim’s family asked for some time to decide, he started calling her frequently and trapped her emotionally,” the officer added. In reality, Nath’s parents, wife and two children live in Angul.
During video calls, he clandestinely captured her nude videos. He later took her on trips outside Odisha too. After marriage, he lived with her in her house for five months. Using the objectionable videos, he exploited her sexually and financially. He allegedly extorted around Rs 5 lakh and 32 grams of gold from the woman, police said. “During investigation, we found he had defrauded numerous other women in many states. His phone records showed nearly 15 women fell into his trap. He was wanted by police in Berhampur, Angul, Balasore, Rourkela, Dhenkanal and Bhubaneswa,” the officer said.