Koraput: Vigilance on Tuesday forwarded Sudhansu Khora, the branch manager of Koraput Central Co-operative (KCC) bank, Malkangiri, to court, a day after his arrest in connection with an embezzlement case involving govt funds.Khora has been accused of misappropriating over Rs 1 crore linked to crop loan transactions and repayments made by farmers through multiple Large Area Multi-Purpose Cooperative Societies (LAMPS) in the district.SP (vigilance) Rabindra Kumar Panda said, “The accused was apprehended following detection of embezzlement of govt funds exceeding Rs 1.08 crore. Investigation is in progress and further details will emerge as we examine the financial trail.”Vigilance officials said the probe revealed that between Feb 11 and March 24 this year, Khora allegedly diverted Rs 86.80 lakh collected as crop loan repayments from farmers under several LAMPS, including Malkangiri, Gangala, Pandripani, Markapalli, Poteru and Challanguda.In addition, he is accused of misappropriating Rs 21.95 lakh disbursed as crop loans to around 90 farmers by allegedly using their signed cheques during early March. The total amount involved in the fraud thus stands at Rs 1.08 crore.The irregularities first came to light during the March financial closing when discrepancies were detected in accounts linked to Malkangiri and Poteru LAMPS. Subsequent verification pointed to funds being routed outside official banking procedures, including instances of cash being handed over directly to the branch manager in exchange for alleged fake receipts.Vigilance has registered two cases in connection with the matter under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.The arrest follows earlier administrative action against Khora, who had been placed under suspension on April 21 after a departmental inquiry flagged serious financial irregularities.Officials said efforts are underway to trace the diverted funds and determine whether others were involved in the fraud.
