Bhubaneswar: Miscreants have allegedly siphoned off over Rs 1 crore from the account of Baripada municipality in a major bank fraud in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district.

The alleged bank fraud came to the light after Sudhanshu Sekhar Samal, the manager of UCO Bank Baripada branch, lodged a complaint in this regard with police.

The miscreants have illegally withdrawn Rs 1.08 crore from the bank account of Baripada municipality, said Samal in his complaint.

As per the complaint, a person, who identified himself as an employee of the Baripada municipality, had submitted an application for changing the mobile number and e-mail ID linked to the civic body’s bank account.

Unaware of any ulterior motive, the officials of the bank reportedly carried out the changes. Subsequently, the miscreants siphoned off Rs 1.08 crore from the account of Baripada municipality, said the complaint.

On the basis of the complaint, Baripada Town police registered a case and initiated a probe in this regard.

The bank authorities, meanwhile, revealed that they have provided Rs 1.08 crore to the Baripada civic body from their own resources.

It is worth mentioning here that some miscreants had withdrawn Rs 2.26 crore from the bank account of Betnoti block in Mayurbhanj some days ago.