EOW Arrests Man for Allegedly Cheating ICICI Bank of ₹1.42 Crore Using Forged Land Documents

Bhubaneswar: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Odisha Crime Branch has arrested a man for allegedly securing a loan of ₹1.42 crore from a private bank by using forged land documents.

The accused, identified as Mihir Kumar Paikaray, was produced before a court in Cuttack on Thursday following his arrest.

According to the EOW, Paikaray obtained the loan from the main branch of ICICI Bank in Bhubaneswar after allegedly mortgaging fake property documents. Based on the documents submitted, the bank approved and disbursed the loan. However, he later stopped repaying the monthly instalments, leading the loan account to be classified as a Non-Performing Asset (NPA). Investigators said the outstanding amount currently stands at around ₹1.22 crore.

The probe further revealed that before approaching ICICI Bank, the accused had already taken a loan of ₹30 lakh from Bank of Baroda by mortgaging the same property using the original sale deed. After he failed to repay that loan, the bank auctioned the property under the provisions of the SARFAESI Act.

During the investigation, EOW officials found that the sale deed submitted to ICICI Bank was allegedly forged. Verification reportedly showed discrepancies in the stamp paper numbers, signatures and thumb impressions when compared with the certified records, indicating that the documents had been fabricated.

Investigators also discovered that Paikaray had allegedly attempted to secure another loan worth ₹1.50 crore from Suryodaya Small Finance Bank using the same method. However, bank officials detected irregularities during the verification process and rejected the loan application.

The case was registered by the EOW based on a complaint filed by a senior official of ICICI Bank. Further investigation into the matter is underway.