Odisha bank officer ended life after being blackmailed with nude calls: Police

Sonepur: Solving the mystery shrouding the death of a bank officer, the Sonepur police have arrested two persons from Rajasthan.

Investigation revealed that Divya Ranjan Mishra, who was working as an agriculture officer with the Punjab National Bank’s Barpali branch in Bargarh district, took the extreme step of ending his life as he was being blackmailed by the accused with nude video calls.

Informing about it at a presser here today, Sonepur SP Amresh Kumar Panda said the deceased was under mental stress due to the blackmailing.

The bank officer had on August 8 died after jumping into river in Dunguripali area of Sonepur district. Two days later, his body was recovered from the river.

As per police sources, a five-member criminal gang of Rajasthan had demanded money from Divya by blackmailing him with nude video calls. The accused were identifying themselves as officials of CBI and threatening the bank officer of exposing him.

Fearing embarrassment, Divya had transferred around Rs 26 lakh to five bank accounts of the accused in 40 installments.

Police came to know about the matter during investigation while examining the deceased’s bank account after his death.

The arrested duo, identified as prime accused Mehboob and his aide Adil, have been brought to Odisha while further probe by police was underway.