Odisha Police arrest 66-year-old man for marrying and duping 14 women in seven states

In a shocking revelation from Odisha, a man assumed the fake identity of a government official for allegedly duping 14 women across India after marrying them. The 66-year-old accused identified as Ramesh Chandra Swain, a resident of Odisha's Kendrapara has been arrested by police in Bhubaneshwar, PTI reported. Swain has denied the allegations and said that "he is a doctor" and has not married all these women. According to police, Swain posed as a doctor posted as a deputy director-general under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Man marries 14 women between 1982 - 2020

The police have informed that Swain has duped his wives of lakhs of rupees. Three of his wives live in Delhi, three in Odisha, two each in Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, and Assam and one each in Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh. Swain had married for the first time in 1982 and his last marriage took place in Arya Samaj Temple in Delhi where he married a teacher in 2020, as per the PTI report. Ramesh Chandra Swain used different identities to dupe women and his different names included Bibhu Prakash Swain and Dr Ramani Ranjan Swain. He has three children with his first wife, two of whom are doctors and settled abroad while his second wife who is a medical practitioner lives in Prayag Raj. Swain was arrested after his wife in Delhi had filed a complaint in July 2021. His victims include an assistant commandant of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, teachers and a Delhi High Court lawyer.

11 ATM cards seized from Ramesh Chandra Swain 

Bhubaneswar Special Squad Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Sanjeev Satpathy informed that Swain targeted middle-aged single women, mostly divorcees, who sought companionship on matrimonial websites. He duped some of his wives of lakhs of rupees before he left them. As per the PTI report, the man allegedly duped his wife from Punjab of Rs 10 lakh and the Gurudwara, where his marriage was solemnised, of Rs 11 lakh with the promise of setting up a medical college. Police has seized 11 ATM cards, four Aadhaar cards and documents including Bihar School Certificates acquired under different identities. Ramesh Swain has been previously arrested for cheating unemployed youth and loan fraud. 

Inputs from PTI

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