Bhubaneswar: Mancheswar police in Bhubaneswar on Sunday arrested two siblings for allegedly running a conning racket in which vehicles taken on rent or under contractual agreements were sold off to unsuspecting buyers, inflicting substantial financial losses on their original owners.The accused were identified as Manoj Mohapatra (40) and his brother Ashok Kumar Mohapatra (44). A cheating case was registered against them on Aug 14 following a complaint lodged by Biswaranjan Patra, a vehicle owner.According to the complaint, the accused approached Patra in May seeking to use his truck for construction and transportation work. “Under the agreement, they agreed to pay the vehicle’s remaining 33 EMIs, amounting to around Rs 37.5 lakh, to the finance company. They also agreed to pay Patra an additional Rs 15,000 per month,” said a police officer.Police said the accused took the vehicle on July 31 but failed to pay any of the agreed EMIs, causing significant financial hardship to the complainant. The investigation, however, revealed that the case was part of a larger and well-organised fraud operation.“Our probe found that the two brothers, along with their father, were allegedly operating a structured vehicle fraud network. They would procure vehicles from owners through rental or contractual arrangements, dispose of them elsewhere, and then disappear without clearing loan liabilities,” said a police officer.Police suspect the family targeted vehicle owners in multiple districts by luring them with attractive payment promises before allegedly diverting or selling the vehicles. “We have found links in several districts, including Ganjam, Berhampur, Rourkela, Kandhamal, Sundargarh, Boudh and Bhadrak. The accused frequently changed their place of residence to evade action and make tracking them difficult,” added the officer.