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ANGUL: Chhendipada police on Saturday arrested the deputy manager of ICICI bank here for allegedly embezzling Rs 1.85 crore public money. The accused was identified as 29-year-old Akash Bharati, deputy manager of ICICI bank, Chhendipada branch. His accomplice, the bank’s ex-cashier Subhashis Routray, reportedly resigned from his job six months back and is currently at large.
The police action came after the bank’s regional manager A K Patjoshi filed a complaint on Friday. IIC Dhiren Kumar Behera said Bharati had been working as the bank’s deputy manager for the last six years.
“He reportedly collected the money and filed the payees’ names in the computer records but was not depositing the cash at the treasury. This way, he had collected a whopping Rs 1.85 crore. All this while, the cashier aided him in the fraud,” Behera added. The matter came to light during the bank’s audit on February 21.
“The auditors realised that the money despite being collected from the people, was not submitted in the treasury. The huge sum was pocketed by these two unscrupulous bank officials,” the IIC added.“We swung into action after receiving the bank’s regional manager’s complaint and arrested Bharati. The other accused cashier is meanwhile on the run and a manhunt has been launched to nab him,” he informed.
