Kamal Ghorui
Koraput: Vigilance sleuths on Thursday arrested two alleged accomplices of the branch manager of Koraput Central Co-operative Bank in Malkangiri district in connection with the embezzlement of govt funds worth over Rs 1.08 crore.The arrested persons have been identified as Sushree Nibedita Tarai and her live-in partner Nrusingh Prasad Khamari, who were allegedly linked to branch manager Sudhansu Khora. Khora was arrested by vigilance on May 5 and is currently in police remand, officials said.According to a vigilance release, investigation into the money trail revealed that Khora had transferred nearly Rs 63 lakh of the misappropriated amount to Tarai and Khamari “as part of a conspiracy to avoid detection.” The release stated that Khora had come into contact with Tarai through Facebook, where she allegedly used the profile name “Sushree Sulagna”, and together they prepared a plan to siphon off bank funds.The vigilance further claimed that Khamari and Tarai appeared to be “professional racketeers” who may have cheated several persons in different parts of the country.“A case appears to have been registered in Bangalore police commissionerate for a fraud of Rs 14 lakh committed by Khamari,” the release stated, adding that another fraud of around Rs 30 lakh was allegedly committed by the duo in Jagatsinghpur.Officials suspect that similar frauds may also have been committed in Baripada, Paradip and Bhubaneswar.As part of the ongoing investigation, vigilance teams are scrutinising 25 bank accounts and 12 stock trading accounts linked to the duo to ascertain the money trail and possible involvement in other financial crimes.During house searches of the arrested accused conducted in Bhubaneswar and Khordha, officials seized 33 mobile phones, of which 27 were allegedly damaged to destroy evidence, besides a desktop computer, tablet, drone, high-end cameras and jewellery suspected to have been purchased using the embezzled money.“Both Khora and Tarai appear to be running a crime syndicate to enrich themselves intentionally by way of cheating others, which is under investigation,” the vigilance said in the release.
