The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Tuesday arrested three SBI bank officials in connection with an alleged loan fraud case involving outstanding dues of over Rs 6.88 crore.

The arrested accused have been identified as Baishakhi Saha, Charubala Dandasena, and Sarita Paikaray. All three were arrested in connection with EOW Police Station Case No. 08 dated May 5, 2026, registered under multiple Sections of the IPC related to cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy and breach of trust.

According to the investigation, the accused officials allegedly conspired with middlemen and others to process and sanction loans using fake salary certificates, fabricated employment records, forged bank statements, and fraudulent KYC documents. The loans were sanctioned in the names of individuals falsely claiming employment in companies such as Tata Steel, Vedanta Limited, TPCODL, and other organisations.

The case was registered following a complaint filed by the Regional Manager of State Bank of India, Regional Business Office in Bhubaneswar. Investigators alleged that 282 Xpress Credit loans amounting to nearly Rs 13.92 crore were sanctioned between May 2022 and November 2023 through SBI branches at Rail Vihar, Fortune Tower, Patia, and Damana Square in Bhubaneswar.

EOW officials said many borrowers later stopped paying EMIs, causing the loan accounts to turn into Non-Performing Assets (NPAs), leaving an outstanding amount of Rs 6.88 crore.

Earlier, alleged middleman Smruti Ranjan Mohanty had also been arrested in the same case. During the investigation, officials seized forged loan documents, fake salary certificates, employment records, and bank statements. The bank has reportedly suspended the officials involved after detecting serious violations of internal banking procedures.

The arrested accused were produced before the designated OPID court in Cuttack.

“These loans were turned bad due to non-payment of loan dues. The Bank (SBI) conducted an internal investigation into these frauds, and found several serious lapses, gross violations of the Bank’s internal rules and circulars, etc., on the part of the aforesaid bank officials and placed the involved bank officials under suspension. During the investigation, the incriminating loan documents, including forged salary certificates, employment details, bank statements, and KYC documents, have been seized,” an EOW press release mentioned.