Bhubaneswar, May 28: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Odisha Police has arrested an individual in connection with a ₹6.88 crore bank loan fraud case. This was confirmed by a senior officer on Thursday.
The accused, Pradeep Kumar Lenka, a resident of Cuttack, was apprehended by the EOW on Wednesday in Bhubaneswar. The arrest is linked to a case registered on May 5 at the EOW police station, based on a complaint from Shiba Sundar Sahu, the regional manager of the State Bank of India (SBI) in Bhubaneswar.
In his complaint, the SBI official alleged that the accused, along with others, conspired to fraudulently obtain 282 express credit loans totaling ₹6.88 crore from various SBI branches, including Rail Vihar (150), Fortune Tower (115), Patiya (8), and Damana (9), between May 2022 and November 2023. They submitted fake employment documents, falsely claiming to be employees of companies such as Tata Steel Limited, TPCODL, Vedanta Limited, Dhamra Port, and Aarti Steels Limited.
The EOW stated in a press release, “The arrested individual collaborated with loan applicants and others to secure 282 express credit loans for 282 different ineligible individuals. They presented fraudulent employment records, including salary certificates, job details, bank statements, and KYC documents.”
After obtaining the loans through fraudulent means, the borrowers reportedly stopped paying their EMIs, causing these loan accounts to become non-performing assets (NPAs), with an outstanding amount of ₹6,88,29,323.
During the investigation, EOW officials discovered that ₹3.23 lakh was allegedly transferred to Lenka’s account from the loan accounts. The inquiry also revealed that Lenka acted as an intermediary in preparing fake documents for financial gain.
Notably, four other accused individuals, including three bank officials—Smriti Ranjan Mohanty, Baishakhi Saha, Charubala Dandseena, and Sarita Paikre—have already been arrested and are currently in judicial custody.
The EOW has also seized several incriminating items, including a mobile phone, which is believed to contain evidence related to the fraud.
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