Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance arrested a former secretary of two Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) under the Patnagarh Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies (ARCS) Circle in Balangir district for allegedly misappropriating society funds amounting to Rs 22.19 lakh.

The accused, Mausam Behera, served as the Secretary of Sunamudi PACS and Tamia PACS under the Patnagarh ARCS Circle. Following his arrest, he was produced before the Court of the Special Judge, Vigilance, Balangir, the Vigilance stated on Thursday.

According to the Vigilance, Behera allegedly misappropriated Rs 22,19,636 during the financial years 2024-25 and 2025-26 through fraudulent financial transactions involving cooperative society funds.

The investigation revealed that the former PACS secretary allegedly falsely recorded refunds of Amanat (deposit) money and diverted proceeds from fertilizer sales instead of depositing them into the Cash Credit (C.C.) fertilizer loan accounts of the two cooperative societies.

Odisha Vigilance stated that the alleged manipulation of records enabled the siphoning of funds, causing a loss of over Rs 22 lakh to the cooperative societies.

Based on the findings, Sambalpur Vigilance Police Station Case No. 11 dated August 5, 2026, was registered against Behera under Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, 2018, and Section 316(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The Vigilance said the investigation is continuing to ascertain the full extent of the alleged financial irregularities and determine whether any other individuals were involved in the misappropriation.