Bhubaneswar, October 10: The Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court in Jatani sentenced Balaram Behera of Kaimatia village,Jatani, Khurda, to two years of imprisonment in a fraud case involving Rs 9 lakh.

Judge Debendra Nath Bagh on Saturday convicted Behera under Sections 318(4), 296, 315(2) and 115(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023. Section 318(4) of the BNS deals with cheating and dishonestly inducing the delivery of property, corresponding broadly to the offence earlier covered under Section 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

According to the case records, the incident dates back to December 23, 2025, when Prasanna Kumar Samal, a resident of Bateswar under Salepur police station limits in Cuttack district, lodged a complaint at Infovalley police station alleging fraud.

Samal alleged that he had paid Rs 9 lakh to the accused through bank cheques in two transactions for the purchase of land. However, Behera allegedly neither registered the land in the complainant’s name nor returned the money. Instead, he allegedly threatened Samal and his family members.

ASI Sita Pradhan investigated the case and subsequently filed the chargesheet before the court.

After hearing the prosecution’s arguments and examining the case in detail, Judge Bagh observed in the judgment that such cases were occurring frequently in society and needed to be dealt with strictly.

“If a laxity is shown in this case, it will encourage other prospective evil-minded people who indulge in this type of offence,” the judge observed.

Assistant Public Prosecutors Manas Kumar Subudhi and Yotismita Mallick effectively conducted the case on behalf of the prosecution, securing the conviction.