Bhubaneswar/Dhenkanal: Thirteen persons including the president and secretary of Dhenkanal Urban Cooperative Bank were arrested Wednesday by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Crime Branch over their alleged complicity in a loan fraud of Rs 11.82 crore.
A 20-member squad of EOW led by ASP Gopabandhu Pati from Bhubaneswar arrested the accused during raids conducted in the town, its outskirts and places under Gondia police limits in the wee hours. Two accused managed to escape during the raids.
The accused including former president of the bank Sukant Kumar Mishra were produced in a court.
The other accused were Bharat Chandra Samal, Sanjay Kumar Pattnaik, Panchanan Swain, Dillip Kumar Sahu, Suramohan Guru, Prabhakar Sahu, Prafulla Kumar Guru, Pratap Samal, Himanshu Pothal, Bipin Bihari Samal and Baishnab Behera.
A former secretary of the bank Niranjan Kar was arrested but was released on a three-day personal bail bond due to his son’s marriage. Kar has been asked to appear before Crime Branch Saturday.
DG (Crime) BK Sharma said the bank officials connived with loanees and issued loans varying from Rs 2 to Rs 5 lakh to each individual by forging documents. “They issued loans without keeping any security or collateral property papers. The documents, submitted to the bank as security by loanees were forged,” Sharma said.
Sharma said over 100 loanees are involved in the scam and Crime Branch will continue its investigation and may arrest more perpetrators. The money has not been recovered from arrested accused, he added.
The state cooperation department had asked the Crime Branch to investigate into the fraud.
The order came following an RBI order to liquidate the bank February 17 in 2010 declaring it bankrupt. Sharma said the bank’s outstanding due stood at Rs 11.82 crore when it was liquidated.
The fraud was committed between 1993 and 2010 until the department audited the bank’s transaction, Sharma said.
The bank, located at Jagannath Road in Dhenkanal, was shut down in 2008.
Sources said Mishra was the president of the bank from 1993 to 2001 when he was a member of Congress party. During his stint, he sanctioned loans to various persons over fake land pattas and forged documents. He is now a BJD member.
Such bad loans resulted in heavy financial loss for the bank which was finally declared insolvent. Mishra is even accused to given appointments to many of his associates in the bank by violating rules.
Dhenkanal municipality chairperson Indramani Behera, Siddheswari Mishra, Braja Kishore Mohapatra, Indumati Singh, Deepak Prasad Pattanaik, Chandrakant Mishra and Gobind have also been named in the FIR over which Crime Branch registered case. PNN
