Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Vigilance Department has arrested a woman and her live-in partner for their alleged involvement in a major embezzlement case involving over Rs 1.08 crore of government funds from the Koraput Central Co-operative (KCC) Bank in Malkangiri.
The arrested persons have been identified as Sushree Nibedita Tarai (also known as Sushree Sulagna) and her live-in partner Nrusingh Prasad Khamari. They were allegedly in collusion with Sudhansu Khora, the Branch Manager of KCC Bank, Malkangiri, who was arrested on May 5 and is currently in police remand.
Investigation has revealed that Sudhansu Khora transferred nearly Rs 63 lakh of the misappropriated funds to the duo as part of a conspiracy to conceal the crime. Khora reportedly came into contact with Nibedita Tarai through a Facebook profile and together they hatched a plan to siphon off bank funds. Vigilance officials suspect that Tarai and Khamari are professional fraudsters involved in multiple cheating cases. So far, a case of Rs 14 lakh fraud has surfaced in Bangalore, while another Rs 30 lakh fraud has been reported from Jagatsinghpur. Similar offences are also suspected in Baripada, Paradip, and Bhubaneswar.
As part of the probe, authorities are scrutinizing 25 bank accounts and 12 stock trading accounts linked to the duo to trace the money trail and uncover other possible frauds. During house searches in Bhubaneswar and Khordha, Vigilance teams recovered a large number of incriminating items, including 33 mobile phones (of which 27 were deliberately damaged to destroy evidence), desktop computer and tablet, jewellery purchased using embezzled money, a drone and high-end cameras.
Vigilance officials believe that Sudhansu Khora and Nibedita Tarai were operating a well-organized crime syndicate aimed at systematically cheating people and financial institutions. Further investigation is underway to uncover the full extent of their activities.
