Bhubaneswar, Oct. 19 -- The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha Police, on Saturday, arrested Pratap Kumar Rout, the state head of a multi-state investment firm, for allegedly defrauding thousands of investors across India.

According to sources, the company is accused of running a massive Ponzi-style scheme that collected over Rs 1,000 crore from more than 3 lakh depositors in ten states, including Rs 139 crore from over 12,000 investors in Odisha.

Sources cited officials of the EOW, who said that the case originated from a complaint by Bijay Kumar Panigrahy, who alleged that he invested Rs 92.6 lakh, his retirement savings, in a fund after being convinced by Pratap Rout to expect monthly returns of 11 to 18%.

Rout, posing as the Od...