An Odisha man was arrested for reportedly scamming multiple women across states after marrying them under the guise of a doctor.

Bidhu Prakash Swain alias Ramesh Swain, a native of the Kendrapara area, was recognised as the accused. He spent most of his time living outside of Odisha.

Swain preyed on women in Punjab, Delhi, Assam, Jharkhand, and Odisha. His primary demographic would be middle-aged women and divorcees. He would approach them via matrimonial websites, masquerading as a doctor with the Union Health Ministry.

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“His targets were well-educated individuals who held top positions in a variety of government and commercial organisations.” He was for their money, according to Bhubaneswar DCP Umashankar Dash.

A Supreme Court counsel and a top Central Armed Police Forces officer were among Swain’s victims.

In 2018, he married a CAPF officer from Punjab and defrauded her of around Rs 10 lakh.

Later, he defrauded the Gurdwara, where the marriage was performed, of Rs 11 lakh by promising to sanction a hospital.

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Swain has five children, according to reports, and he married for the first time in 1982, then again in 2002. He befriended and married several ladies between 2002 and 2020.

He used to live with them for a few days after marriage and then abandon the woman at her parents’ house under the guise of travelling to the Northeast or Bhubaneswar for business.

Dash stated that Swain was detained in July 2021 in response to a complaint submitted by a Delhi-based instructor. According to the victim’s complaint, Swain married her at an Arya Samaj temple in New Delhi.

Following the complaint, he was detained at a rental residence in Bhubaneswar’s Khandagiri region and charged under sections 498 (A), 419, 468, 471, and 494 of the Indian Penal Code.

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During the investigation, it was discovered that he had misled 13 additional women whom he had met on different matrimonial websites and social media.

The police also seized 11 ATM cards, four Aadhaar cards with various identifiers, and a Bihar school certificate under a different identity.

Swain was previously arrested in Hyderabad for duping jobless youths under the guise of offering employment or gaining admissions to MBBS programmes. He robbed Rs 2 crore from numerous persons across India while posing as the deputy director-general of the Central Health Education and Training.

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He was also charged in Kerala for loan fraud in Ernakulam.

Swain’s remand will be sought by the police, “If necessary, an all-female team will be assembled for further investigation.” A trained counsellor will also be part of the team to advise his victims, according to the DCP.

“We want to undertake a thorough financial inquiry into the scam.” “We would seek a lengthier remand of the accused of a thorough investigation,” said DCP Umashankar Dash.