Bhubaneswar, March 19 The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Odisha Police has arrested a man for his alleged involvement in defrauding the District Mineral Foundation (DMF), Mayurbhanj, of Rs 9.6 crore, an official said on Thursday.
One builder, Brajesh Mishra, was arrested from Chhattisgarh on Tuesday, and he was brought to Bhubaneswar on transit remand after being produced before a court in the neighbouring state, the EOW official said.
The arrest was made on the basis of a police case registered by the chief manager of a nationalised bank, Baripada branch.
According to the EOW, a group of fraudsters managed to transfer Rs 9.56 crore from the account of the DMF trust of Zilla Parishad, Mayurbhanj, by producing fake cheques in April 2024.
Out of the illegally transferred amount, Rs 5.04 crore has been frozen, and Rs 13.56 lakh lying in 33 accounts has been frozen, they said.
During the investigation, the police officers found that an amount of Rs 98 lakh and Rs 49 lakh had been transferred to the bank accounts of Mishra's two construction companies. Of which, Rs 14.19 lakh was transferred to Mishra's own bank account, and the rest amount to some other accounts with ill intention, the officer said.
Mishra is a member of a larger gang with complex networks in different states like Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha, he said.
After his arrest, the EOW has obtained important clues about the entire gang. They have been involved in these scams for the last four years. An investigation is in progress to reach out to the other fraudsters, including the leader of the gang, he said.
Earlier, three accused persons of the case—Pomesh Tembhare, Ghanshyam Ahuja and Ajmir Mondal were arrested from Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal, respectively.