Police on Monday arrested six persons in connection with a massive loan fraud at the Gurudijhatia Cooperative Society at Athagarh of Cuttack district. The fraud had come to the fore following the suicide attempt by two farmers before the State Assembly in November 2020.
Police said the six accused were identified as Prabodha Ranjan Parida (Peon), Bijaya Kumar Das (Secretary) and Sangram Kesari Sahoo (Assistant Secretary) of Gurudijhatia Society. The other three accused were identified as-Athgarh Central Cooperative Bank’s Clerk Chitrananda Jena, Supervisor Niranjan Parida and Cashier Babaji Charan Pradhan.
All of them are residents of Cuttack district. Sources said that over Rs 1 crore was siphoned off from the cooperative bank accounts of many people in the district.
The duped farmers had also submitted a memorandum at the cooperative society two days back asking authorities to reveal the data on the amount of loan sanctioned in their names. The farmers further alleged that though they had asked to reveal the details of the loan amount six months ago, the concerned bank authorities are yet to provide them with the details.
Choudwar SDPO Satyabrata Lenka said, “We received a complaint regarding the loan fraud in the name of many farmers at the Gurudijhatia Cooperative Society.”
Based on the FIR, an investigation was launched and we found evidence against three staff of the concerned society and three officials of Central Cooperative Bank. They have been arrested and forwarded to court,” the SDPO added.