Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance sleuths on Friday arrested Suresh Chandra Sahu, Secretary of the Kadopada Primary Agricultural Cooperative Society (PACS) in Deogarh district, for allegedly embezzling public funds amounting to Rs 40,71,644.
The arrest came after investigation revealed that Sahu had systematically siphoned off funds meant for the local farming community by manipulating official financial records. Vigilance officers found that he deliberately tampered with the PACS Day Book—the primary book of original entry—to conceal cash transactions.
A Vigilance statement said that Sahu received loan repayment amounts from farmers in cash but failed to enter these transactions into the official Day Book. By omitting these entries, he allegedly diverted the full amount for personal gain, causing significant financial loss to the cooperative society and directly impacting poor and marginal farmers dependent on PACS services.
The fraud was particularly harmful as it targeted a system designed to provide financial support to farmers, undermining trust and destabilizing the cooperative’s operations, it said.
A case has been registered under relevant anti-corruption laws at the Rourkela Vigilance Police Station. Following his formal arrest, Sahu was produced before the Court of the Special Judge, Vigilance, Sambalpur. Further investigation is underway.
