Bhubaneswar, June 9: Officials of the state crime branch's economic offences wing today arrested Purna Chandra Rath, manager at the Paradip branch of Karamchand Thapper and Bros (Coal Sales) Limited, from Calcutta on charges of cheating Rs 30 crore.

A wing official said the accused had committed a fraud of Rs 30 crore by producing false documents and preparing fake bills and cheques, apart from transferring money to his bank account.

"The accused, who was working as a manger (administration) and looking after finances, was the authorised signatory of the company's bank account. He, along with others, entered into a criminal conspiracy and forged the bank statement of the company," said the official.

The company, which was established in 1943, is one of the largest coal-handling agencies in the country. The company is also responsible for the entire set of logistic operations involved in the movement of approximately 60 million metric tonnes of coal per annum.

In January, the investigating agency had arrested another officer of the company, Rakesh Kumar Chopra, on similar charges.

At that time, the economic offences wing had registered a case against him and Rath in July last year following a complaint lodged by manger and office in charge of the company's Paradeep branch Amit Kumar Chaudhury.

In another related development, the enforcement directorate toady interrogated N. Prabhakar Babu, one of the directors of Seven Hills Hospital in Vizag in connection with the kidney sale racket, which surfaced last year.

Sources in the directorate said Prabhakar had been interrogated for around two-and-a-half hours. The police had last year arrested Prabhakar for violation of the Transplantation of Human Organ Act.