A Balangir businessman has reportedly been kidnapped due to a dispute over a rare coin known as the “Hanuman paisa,” which is believed to be worth crores. Authorities have accused a journalist and a woman police sub-inspector of orchestrating the kidnapping as part of a scheme to extort money from the businessman. The police made this announcement on Monday, detailing the ongoing investigation into the incident.
A police team rescued him in Bhubaneswar the following day. His mobile phone was switched off after the abduction. During his confinement in Bhubaneswar, Narendra was allegedly threatened at gunpoint and forced to make repeated calls to his family saying he was safe.
The accused allegedly threatened businessman Narendra Sahu, 62, with a pistol, forced him to record staged videos and attempted to use a fabricated assault complaint to pressure him into paying money, police officials said. Sahu, also known as Gunda Sahu, was allegedly lured to Randa Chowk in Balangir on August 14 by the main accused, Kshitish Chandra Sahu, and his associates, abducted and taken to Bhubaneswar.
The case centres on an alleged “Hanuman paisa” racket reported in western Odisha, where fraudsters exploit beliefs surrounding mythical antique coins said to have extraordinary wealth-generating or supernatural properties. Police said such schemes typically involve claims that rare copper or brass coins bearing images of Hanuman can fetch crores of rupees from collectors. He was allegedly tied up and assaulted before being confined in a hotel, police said. Himanshu Kumar Lal, Inspector General of Police, Northern Range, said Kshitish had told police that he paid Narendra ₹ 2.7 crore in 2020 for a rare antique “Hanuman coin”, but that Narendra neither delivered the coin nor returned the money. Police said they had so far found no documentary or financial evidence to substantiate the alleged transaction. Balangir Superintendent of Police Abhilash G said that after abducting Narendra Sahu, some of the accused drove a Maruti vehicle towards Redhakhol and Angul, while the main accused travelled separately in an SUV towards Bhubaneswar via Daspalla Road. Police said the calls were intended to discourage his family from reporting the matter to police and give the abductors more time.
