The Brahmapur town police on Wednesday arrested and forwarded to court State Bank of India, Bhapur Bazar evening branch Field Officer Sibaram Behera on the charge of sanctioning loans and crediting his son Jayant’s account through fraudulent means.
Behera, a resident of Rampa Sahi near Gate Bazar under the Sadar police limits, had been working in the SBI branch for the last couple of years. According to the complaint, Behera used to adopt deceptive means to transfer customers’ sanctioned loan amounts to his son’s bank account apart from sanctioning loans in his (Jayant) name.
In 2004-05, one Jitendra Dhal, a resident of Ramanagar had applied to the SBI branch for a personal loan of Rs 1 lakh. But, Field Officer Behera after sanctioning the loan reportedly deposited the amount in his son’s name. In a similar manner, he had also credited his son’s account with `2 lakh sanctioned in another customer’s name.
After receiving a complaint in 2012, the then Bank Manager Sudarsan Mishra conducted an investigation and lodged a complaint with the police alleging embezzlement of bank money by Behera. The bank has recovered Rs 3 lakh from Behera and his son and has dismissed Behera from service, sources said.