Odisha Woman Fabricates Husband’s Death in Balasore Train Tragedy to Get Ex-Gratia

Cuttack: A woman from the Cuttack district of Odisha was busted while attempting to deceive authorities by presenting fake documents, pretending that her husband was killed in order to get the ex gratia payment designated for the victims of the Odisha train tragedy.

The incident came to light when the woman’s husband, Vijay Dutt, himself filed a written complaint with the Maniabandha police station, exposing his wife’s fraudulent actions.

Identified as Gitanjali Dutta, the woman had visited a hospital in the city where the bodies of the victims were being kept for identification. She presented a counterfeit Aadhaar card belonging to a passenger from the NOCCI area in Balasore, falsely claiming that her husband had died in the train accident. However, her scheme to illicitly obtain compensation money was uncovered by the police during the verification process.

Upon investigation, it was revealed that the woman had submitted forged documents in an attempt to unlawfully acquire the ex-gratia payment. The husband expressed his shame over the incident, urging others to be cautious of such individuals. He lodged a case with the police and sought justice for the wrongdoing.

The Odisha government recently revised the death toll of the Balasore train crash to 288. Chief Secretary PK Jena announced that after verifying the bodies, the confirmed death count rose from 275 to 288. Of the total deceased, 205 bodies have been identified and returned to their respective families.

In response to the tragedy, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik sanctioned a sum of Rs 1.95 crore from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund (CMRF) as ex-gratia payment to the families of 39 deceased individuals from Odisha. Each family will receive Rs 5 lakh as compensation.