Bhubaneswar, Mar 10 (PTI) The Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of Odisha police crime branch has arrested two more persons, including a woman, in connection with a Rs 3.7 crore fraud case taking the total number of arrests to four, a police officer said on Sunday.

The EOW arrested the prime accused Saroj Kanta Mohapatra, ex-branch manager of a private bank in Puri district, and his friend Angel Mishra on Saturday.

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Earlier, Tanmay Kumar Maharana, the ex-asset officer of the bank's branch, was arrested from Raipur in Chhattisgarh, the police officer said.

The arrests were made in connection with a case registered by the bank's general manager in Bhubaneswar accusing Sarojkanta Mohapatra and Tanmay Kumar Maharana of sanctioning 35 fictitious loans (majorly MUDRA loans) amounting to Rs 3.7 crore, mostly in favour of their close relative and acquaintances, the officer said.

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During the investigation, it was discovered that the BDO of Pipili block had requested the bank for a flexi fixed deposit (FFD) of Rs 3.7 crore in 2018.

It was also falsely intimated by the bank that the amount had been deposited in the Flexi account, giving the details of the interest accumulated thereupon, the officer said.

In the year 2022, when the BDO sought the details of the Flexi account and the statements of the account, the bank intimated that no such FFD has ever been created from the accounts of BDO, he said.

The investigation also found that the entire misappropriated loan amount of Rs 3.7 crore was directly or indirectly diverted to the bank accounts of Angel Mishra.

The EOW said the accused Angel is the classmate of the accused Saroj, and she was also involved in a fraud case registered in Khandagiri police station in 2022.

Mohapatra was also involved in a bank fraud of Rs 18 crore registered by Bhopal STF in 2020.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)