Man Arrested For Bungling Rs 6 Crore Of Govt Subsidy In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has arrested an accused for his alleged involvement in misappropriation of Rs 6 crore in government subsidy.

The accused has been identified as Lenin Choudhury, a resident of Pakelpada in Mahulpali police station area in Sambalpur district.

The EOW, Bhubaneswar said the accused was arrested from Gobindpur on Thursday night and he will be produced in the SDJM court in the Odisha capital on Friday.

EOW sources said Choudhury was arrested in connection with an earlier case of fraud registered against one Srinath Rana.

Bharatpur police had registered a case against Rana based on a complaint lodged by the director of Bangalore-based Varushapriya Agrotech Pvt. Ltd, KG Sree Charan. The company has a branch office at Baramunda in Bhubaneswar.

According to the FIR, Rana, who was earlier working as the regional manager of Varushapriya Agrotech in Odisha, had misappropriated Rs 6 crore of government subsidy by fraudulently using the company’s login ID and password to access the Odisha Agriculture Department’s website.

During investigation, it was found that Rana, Choudhury and others had fraudulently uploaded the details of more than 500 paddy transplanters with fake engine and chassis numbers and names and photos of beneficiary farmers across 18 districts in Odisha.

The accused then illegally accessed the Agriculture Department portal to get the subsidy amount released in favour of the beneficiaries.

Once the money was deposited in the account of a farmer, the accused used to lure the beneficiary by giving a token amount and grabbing the rest of the subsidy amount, EOW investigators said.

The fraud took place between 2017 and 2021, they added.