Raid on media office: FIR alleges Rs 50 crore loan availed fraudulently, says EOW

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Odisha Police Crime Branch on Monday released a statement on the raid on the office of the daily newspaper, Sambad in connection with a loan fraud allegation.

The raid was conducted based on the case registered under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections- 506, 467, 468, 471, 420, and 120 B following a complaint filed by a former employee of the newspaper.

EOW stated that the case was registered on the allegation that several employees were forced to take personal loans. The case has been registered against the Editor Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, HR Head Baijayanti Kar, and others.

The complainant, Asim Mohapatra alleged that he was forced by the accused to sign on blank loan forms against his will. He was threatened that his job would be taken away if he did not follow the instructions. Later, the complainant learned that a loan of Rs 5 lakh was taken in his name but it was used by Sambad (Eastern Media Limited).

“The FIR alleges that more than 300 employees of the vernacular daily have been forced to sign on forged documents and about Rs 50 crore have thus been fraudulently secured by Soumya Ranjan Patnaik using these forged papers and threatening the staff,” the EOW’s statement read.

EOW further stated to have collected some incriminating documents and examined some witnesses during the course of the investigation.

“So far, 15-20 employees of Sambad have come forward with complaints of such forceful loans taken against their name using forged documents,” the statement added.