Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Odisha, today arrested three women bank officials of the State Bank of India in connection with a major loan scam involving the sanction of 282 fake Xpress Credit personal loans worth Rs 13.92 crore.
The arrested accused are Baishakhi Saha (Assistant Manager, Credit & NPA, RBO-2), Charubala Dandasena (former Service Manager), and Sarita Paikaray (former Branch Manager).
They were booked in EOW PS Case No. 08 dated 05.05.2026 under Sections 409, 420, 467, 468, 471, and 120-B of the IPC. The trio will be produced before the Designated Court under the OPID Act cum Special Court for EOW at Cuttack today. According to police sources, the accused allegedly entered into a criminal conspiracy with a middleman and others to process and sanction loans on the basis of fabricated documents. The loans were disbursed between May 2022 and November 2023 from four SBI branches in Bhubaneswar — Rail Vihar (150 loans), Fortune Tower (115), Patia (8), and Damana (9).
The case was registered on the complaint of Shiba Sundar Sahoo, Regional Manager, SBI RBO, Bhubaneswar. Investigation revealed that loanees submitted fake salary certificates, employment proofs, bank statements, and KYC documents claiming employment with reputed organizations such as Tata Steel Ltd., TPCODL, Vedanta Ltd., and others. Most borrowers stopped repaying EMIs, turning the accounts into Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) with an outstanding amount of ₹6.88 crore.
Baishakhi Saha, who was posted as Service Manager at Rail Vihar Branch during the relevant period, is accused of processing 143 loans amounting to Rs 6.22 crore. Charubala Dandasena and Sarita Paikaray, who served at Damana Square Branch, are alleged to have processed and sanctioned 9 loans worth Rs 30.17 lakh.
Earlier, middleman Smruti Ranjan Mohanty was arrested on May 20, 2026, and is currently in judicial custody. During the probe, EOW seized incriminating forged documents. An internal bank inquiry had earlier found serious lapses and violations of banking norms, leading to the suspension of the involved officials.
The investigation is continuing to identify other beneficiaries and possible larger networks.
