Many in Singhalo village in Patkura police station jurisdiction of Odisha’s Kendrapara had seen 66-year-old Ramesh Chandra Swain visiting his place of birth in SUVs in recent years. Though visits were few and far, he drew respect from the locals as a doctor for his amiable and cordial manners.

But residents of the sleepy village were shell-shocked in disbelief as Swain grabbed the news headlines recently, all for the wrong reason. The man from Singhala village had assumed the identity of a doctor for marrying as many 17 women including highly placed professionals across the country to fleece them financially.

Swain has brought a bad name to the village. But we are all literally stunned and pushed to utter disbelief. We never thought that he would master the art of deceit and treachery to play with the lives of innocent women. He should be meted out exemplary punishment, said Pravat Swain, a contemporary of the arrested conman.

In 1990 he left the village. He told us that he is working as a senior official in the union health ministry. He used to pay a visit to the village once or twice a year in a self-driven SUV, mostly to meet his mother. His interaction with locals was limited but cordial. He got married to a local woman in 1982. But nobody was aware of his sexual escapades and acts of deceit, he narrated.

Ramesh’s much-publicized fraud and deception has become the main topic of discussion in the village and its nearby areas. The debate and arguments on the ongoing rural polls and winnability of candidates has been relegated to the rear as the polygamist’s much-married status has taken the centre-stage in the far-flung village.

It may be recalled here that Swain was arrested on 14 February after a victim woman in Delhi had filed a complaint in July 2021. The accused had got married to the complainant in 2018 and had begun to monetarily fleece her. Smelling foul play on the antecedents, the victim had knocked at the police’s doors. His victims also included an assistant commandant of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police, teachers and a Delhi High Court lawyer.

Swain’s soft targets were middle-aged single women, mostly divorcees, who sought companionship on matrimonial websites.

The arrested accused also had a history of economic offences. The Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad police had earlier arrested him in separate fraud cases, according to Bhubaneswar urban police.