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In a shocking case that has shaken Odisha's law enforcement circles, state police have arrested four people—including a serving woman sub-inspector and a local journalist—for kidnapping, assaulting, and trying to extort a 62-year-old businessman from Balangir. The investigation has uncovered a bizarre plot involving staged video recordings, a fake gun assault, and a ₹50 lakh extortion demand rooted in a dispute over a supposedly magical antique coin known as a Hanuman Paisa.
The victim, Balangir hotelier Narendra Sahu (locally known as Gunda Sahu), was abducted at gunpoint from Randa Chowk on August 14. Investigators say the main accused, 50-year-old Kshitish Chandra Sahu from Bhubaneswar, lured him to the spot under a false pretext. Once Narendra arrived, armed men forced him into an SUV and drove him more than 300 km to the state capital. To mislead tracking teams, the gang used two separate cars—sending one toward Redhakhol and Angul while the main suspect drove the victim through Daspalla, switching off the businessman's phone along the way.
In Bhubaneswar, the group confined the hotelier to a hotel room under the Khandagiri police station limits. There, he was tied up, beaten, and threatened. The abductors handed him an unloaded pistol and forced him to pose for photos and videos to make it appear as though he had attacked Kshitish. Police later recovered 12 video clips from the suspect's phone showing the terrified businessman apologizing under duress and admitting to fabricated debts. Investigators say these clips were created to blackmail the victim and scare him out of going to the police.
At the core of the abduction was a fraudulent antique scheme that preys on superstitions in parts of western Odisha. The racket claims that rare coins bearing the imprint of Lord Hanuman possess supernatural, wealth-generating powers and fetch crores in secret markets. During questioning, Kshitish claimed he had paid Narendra ₹2.7 crore back in 2020 for one such coin and that the businessman had failed to deliver. However, senior police officers, including Northern Range IG Himanshu Kumar Lal, confirmed that financial checks found zero bank trails or documentation backing the multi-crore claim, suggesting it was used simply as an excuse for extortion.
The conspiracy escalated when Kshitish roped in his sister, Sub-Inspector Snehamanjari Sahu, who was posted at the Khandagiri police station, along with local journalist Sanjay Jena. Police say the sub-inspector directly confronted the victim, threatening him with false firearm and assault charges unless he paid ₹50 lakh within 24 hours. CCTV footage showed Sanjay Jena waiting outside the police station and escorting the victim inside while allegedly pretending to be an officer, attempting to lodge a false complaint claiming Narendra had attacked them with a gun.
The scheme fell apart quickly thanks to swift coordination by the Balangir police under SP Abhilash G. After the businessman's family filed a missing person report, tracking units used highway cameras and automated number plate recognition systems to trace the SUV to Bhubaneswar. A special Balangir police team reached the Khandagiri police station on August 15 just as the suspects were trying to file their fabricated case. The officers rescued Narendra on the spot and arrested Kshitish, his associate Sanjit Behera, journalist Sanjay Jena, and Sub-Inspector Snehamanjari Sahu.
Police have charged the four under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Arms Act for kidnapping, wrongful confinement, extortion, assault, and criminal conspiracy. The vehicles used in the abduction and the phones containing the staged videos have been seized, while departmental proceedings have begun against the arrested sub-inspector for abuse of power. The four accused remain in judicial custody as investigators trace whether other accomplices were involved in the wider racket.