Jajpur (Odisha), Apr 26 (PTI) Odisha Police in Jajpur district have arrested a former banking correspondent of a nationalised bank for allegedly misappropriating around Rs 27 lakh of depositors’ money, officials said on Sunday.

The accused has been identified as Prakash Rana, a resident of Abhayapur in the district's Dharmasala block.

Police said Rana was working as a banking correspondent for a branch in Dharmasala and used to collect money from customers for deposit into their accounts.

However, he allegedly did not deposit the funds and issued fake receipts to customers.

He also allegedly withdrew money from customers’ accounts by collecting signed blank forms and photocopies of Aadhaar cards under the pretext of KYC updates, ATM card applications, and mobile number linking, police said.

The fraud came to light in October last year when a depositor detected a mismatch of Rs 6 lakh in his account. Following this, more customers checked their accounts, and irregularities amounting to around Rs 21 lakh were found in nine more accounts, police said.

The customers then lodged complaints against Rana with Dharmasala UCO bank branch, following which the branch manager lodged a police complaint against him. Rana was also terminated from the job.

"The accused has misappropriated around Rs 27 lakh belonging to at least 10 customers. Of this, about Rs 15 lakh collected from depositors was not deposited, while another Rs 12 lakh was allegedly withdrawn from customer accounts," said Dharmasala police station IIC Chinmayee Sahu. PTI COR AAM AAM MNB

Customer deposit misappropriation by a banking correspondent exposed fake receipts, unauthorised withdrawals, and account irregularities. Alleged misappropriation by a banking correspondent involved customer deposits, fake receipts, and unauthorised withdrawals from customer accounts. The conduct allegedly included obtaining signed blank forms and Aadhaar photocopies under the pretext of KYC updates, ATM card applications, and mobile number linking, and then using them to access funds without proper deposit or authorisation. The fraud came to light after a depositor noticed an account mismatch, prompting complaints to the bank and a police complaint.