Satish Aditya
Motihari : An Assistant Manager of Central Bank of India allegedly defalcated a sum of Rs 27 lakh from a government scheme ‘Jeevika’ account in East Champaran District in North Bihar and has been missing for more than a month. A team of district police have launched a search operation against the said Assistant Manager of the Central Bank of India branch located in Vishunpur under Sikrahana Sub-Division.
The bank authorities lodged a complaint against the man in question Utpal Anand alleging the fraud and requested police to trace the Assistant Manager, who has been absconding since he left for election duty in November 2020,
The fraud came to light after the bank updated the accounts. After internal investigation, the authorities concerned found that the Assistant Manager had transferred the amount from the account of Jeevika’s Jagriti Self Help Group (SHG) at Patahi to his own account. “The funds were transferred through RTGS on different occasions,” said
the Regional Manager (RM) of Central Bank of India Sunil Agnihotri, who is investigating the fraud. An official of Jeevika Manoj Kumar is also assisting in the probe.
If sources in the Bank are to be believed, the defalcation amount may reach up to Rs 90 lakh. The officials are also probing whether the funds from other accounts holders were also misappropriated.
The RM asked Branch Manager (BM) to file an FIR with the police station concerned to ensure Utpal Anand is traced at the earliest. The BM of the bank recommended the application of Jagriti Adhyaksh Sarita Devi and Secretary Rina Devi for lodging the FIR to the Pachpakari police Outpost of Dhaka police station. The Bank officials said that on November 3, 2020, funds were transferred twice- each time Rs 3 lakh, and on November 9, 2020, Rs 9 lakh were transferred.
Jeevika officials came to know about the fraud when the bank informed them of a lack of balance in the account after Jeevika officials deposited a cheque of Rs seven lakh. The bank authorities said that Jeevika has deposited Rs 28 lakh into its account.