Jammu, 01 August (H.S.): The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch Kashmir has filed a chargesheet in a case involving the embezzlement of Rs 3.11 crore from the Central Co-operative Bank, officials said on Saturday.

The chargesheet has been submitted to the court of the chief judicial magistrate in Handwara under Sections 420, 468, 471, and 120-B of the Ranbir Penal Code. These sections pertain to offences including cheating, forgery, the use of forged documents, and criminal conspiracy, officials added.

They said the investigation was undertaken based on a written communication received from the then registrar of co-operative societies, J-K, alleging large-scale financial irregularities and embezzlement in various branches of the Central Co-operative Bank in Baramulla.

During the investigation, it was established that the then branch manager of the Langate Branch, acting in connivance with other accused, fraudulently sanctioned fictitious loans and permitted overdrafts far in excess of his delegated financial authority, leading to the misappropriation of approximately Rs 3.11 crore of the bank's funds, they said.

The investigation disclosed that the accused entered into a criminal conspiracy to facilitate these fraudulent transactions, thereby causing substantial wrongful loss to the bank, officials said.

The allegations were substantiated during the investigation, and accordingly, the chargesheet has been presented before the competent court for judicial adjudication, they added.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Krishan Kumar