Driver arrested for raping 23-yr-old

Bhubaneswar: A 23-year-old woman, who was a victim of job fraud, fell prey to lust when she was raped by a driver she knew from before and had promised to help her negotiate a tricky situation.On Monday, city police arrested Himanshu Samal alias Jitu (36) on charges of raping the woman in Puri district on Saturday.According to the police, months earlier the woman, a resident of another district, had reached out to Jitu, who knew her and her mother, for help to get a job. Samal then introduced her to a friend who had assured her a receptionist’s job in a private company in Bhubaneswar. She paid Rs 30,000 to the friend, but when the promised job never materialised, she demanded her money back.To regain her trust, Samal transferred nearly Rs 2 lakh into her account, claiming he was temporarily parking his own money there due to “technical issues” with his account.“But the unusual transaction left the woman anxious about possible legal trouble. Exploiting her fear, Samal called her from an unknown phone number and posed as an officer from Dhauli police station, asking about the transaction,” DCP Jagmohan Meena said.Panic-stricken, the woman turned to Samal for help and the latter, pretending to have contacts in Dhauli police, offered to accompany her to the police station. On Saturday, instead of taking her to the police station, he drove her to a hotel in Pipili, Puri district, claiming a police officer would meet them there.Under various pretexts, he persuaded her to stay overnight and raped her that night. Sunday morning, he dropped her back in Bhubaneswar and warned her from reporting the crime. The woman lodged a complaint the same day and Samal was arrested on Monday.“Though the incident took place in Puri district, we registered the case in Bhubaneswar considering the sensitivity of the matter and the rape survivor’s plight. The accused was arrested without delay,” DCP Meena said.Police suspect Samal and his associate, who is on the run, may have duped others with similar false job promises.