Raipur: A former manager of the government-owned in Chhattisgarh’s Surajpur district has been arrested for allegedly cheating customersand committing financial irregularities, a police official said Sunday.
Alok Gupta, during his tenure as manager of the Central Bank of India’s Ramanuj Nagar branch, allegedly used fraudulent means to transfer customers’ sanctioned loan amounts to other accounts in a bid to embezzle money, the official informed quoting complaints against the accused.
“Gupta was on the run after two cases were registered against him in this connection last month. He was arrested Saturday from Garhwa district of neighbouring Jharkhand, Surajpur’s SP Rajesh Kukreja told this agency.
Besides, two more persons, identified as Alok Shukla and Rafique Khan, were also arrested for allegedly helping Alok Gupta in evading arrest, the SP added.
Last month, two customers lodged FIRs against Gupta, then assistant manager Surendra Marandi and then cashier Abhishek Mandal of the bank’s Ramanuj Nagar branch.
As per the complaint lodged by Radheshaym Singh, a betel shop owner, he submitted an application to Gupta earlier this year seeking Mudra loan of Rs 5,00,000 from the bank.
Whenever he enquired about the loan, Gupta told him it was not sanctioned, the official said quoting the complaint. Later in September, when Singh checked the statement of his Jan Dhan (savings) account with the bank, he found that the loan had been sanctioned to him and deposited in his account March 1. Also, the entire money was transferred to five different accounts on the same day and next day, about which Singh was completely unaware.
Singh then last month lodged an FIR against Gupta and Mandal for allegedly transferring his loan amount to other accounts through fraudulent means, informed the official.
Similarly, another customer Dinesh Vishwkarma, who is a doctor at a local community health centre, took home loan of Rs 20 lakh from the bank. Then, May 27 this year, Rs 5,00,000 from his loan account was first transferred to the account of one Rajesh Shankar Das and further to the account of one Mithlesh Kumar and withdrawn from it. Vishwakarma also lodged an FIR against Gupta and Marandi last month, he said.
“The investigation revealed that the main accused, Gupta, in connivance with banks officials allegedly used his login ID and password to fraudulently transfer and withdraw the loan amounts,” the police official said. Mandal was arrested last month, he said, adding that efforts are on to trace Marandi.
PTI
