Odisha couple cheats bank of crores

Bhubaneswar: A private sector bank has sought the help of Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of state Crime Branch to nab an absconding couple who allegedly cheated the bank to the tune of Rs 4.80 crore here.

The EOW initiated a probe into the issue after registering a case on the basis of the complaint lodged by the regional head of the bank, Asit Kumar Parhi.

According to Parhi, Narendra Kumar Sahu, the owner of RK Timber, a proprietorship firm, requested the bank to grant a loan amounting Rs 80 lakh to purchase a plant, machinery and other equipment to expand his business in 2009. The bank agreed to sanction the loan and signed an agreement with Sahu and his wife. It disbursed the loan amount against six plots registered in the name of the couple at Kantabada Mauza under Chandaka police limits in June 2009.

However, Sahu showed no interest in repaying the loan amount. Subsequently, the bank declared the account as Non-Performing Asset (NPA) within almost one year period. The bank later filed a case at the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in Cuttack against the couple to recover its amount in 2012. The DRT allowed the bank to recover the loan by selling mortgaged properties.

The Recovery Officer found that four out of the six plots kept as security by the accused have been submerged in the canal of Jhumka Dam. The bank accused the couple of cheating the bank as they knew that the bank could not sell or use the plots. Similarly, the empanelled advocate of the bank found that the accused couple had sold the remaining two plots kept as security to different people while keeping the bank in the dark in 2011.

Meanwhile, the couple was found absconding when the bank tried to make contact to recover the Rs 4.80 crore including interest.