Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance on Monday arrested a former Secretary of Tusura Primary Agricultural Cooperative Society (PACS) Ltd. under Gudvela Block of Balangir district for alleged misappropriation of Rs 42.31 lakh during paddy procurement.
Vigilance said in a statement that the accused, identified as Sanoj Kumar Mishra, was forwarded to the Court of the Special Judge in Balangir after being arrested.
The arrest follows an extensive investigation into financial irregularities and systemic fraud during the Kharif Marketing Season (KMS) 2014–15. Mishra, then Secretary of Tusura PACS, was responsible for managing the procurement of paddy from local farmers and ensuring its timely dispatch to designated (tagged) rice millers for custom milling.
Investigations revealed that a substantial quantity of paddy procured using government funds was neither delivered to the millers nor accounted for in the society’s stock records. The physical non-delivery and fraudulent accounting resulted in an illegal diversion of funds and direct financial loss of Rs 42,31,608/- to the society by Mishra, the anti-corruption agency said.
In this connection, a case has been registered against Mishra and further investigation is underway.
