Bail plea of bank manager in ₹5.36 cr SSA scam rejected

MAPUSA
The Additional Sessions Court in Mapusa has rejected the anticipatory bail plea of a Bank of Baroda manager accused in the ₹5.36 crore Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) scam, observing that the gravity of the crime cannot be overlooked despite the embezzled amount being reimbursed through insurance.
Judge Apoorva Nagvenkar noted that the offence involved misappropriation of public funds and emphasised the need to reach the root of the conspiracy to apprehend all those involved. The court further observed that financial crimes using e-technology are on the rise, targeting people’s lifelong savings.
According to the prosecution, the bank manager failed to explain why he ignored emails from the Gogol branch raising red flags about irregularities, including the unauthorised update of a customer’s mobile number and debit alerts not reaching the actual account holder.
The court pointed out that the manager knew the account belonged to SSA and that cheques issued to teachers were never of such high value. A suspicious cheque of ₹45.67 lakh issued in the name of Rajesh Bedding should have triggered due diligence, the court noted.
The fraud, which occurred between February 21 and March 5, 2025, saw a total of ₹5.36 crore siphoned off from SSA’s Goa branch account. Following a complaint by SSA director Dr Shambhu Ghadi, Porvorim police arrested prime accused Rabin Paul, who had ₹1.8 crore deposited in his account. The case was later handed over to the Crime Branch.
Seven suspects from West Bengal – including Rabin Paul, Purnashish Sana alias Suman, Alamin Mondal alias Rocky, Bidyadhar Mallik alias Babu alias Vicky, Sumanta Mondal, Mriganka Jorder and Subhashish Sikdar – have been arrested and are presently out on bail.
The court was informed that the accused manager, though summoned on multiple dates in July, failed to cooperate with the investigation or submit supporting documents.
Public Prosecutor P Narulkar appeared for the State, while Advocate S Samant represented the applicant.