Balangir: Police have arrested a woman, who is a self-help group secretary, for cheating its members to the tune of Rs 2.10 lakh.

Padmini Sahu, secretary of Bhagawati Self-Help Group (SHG) of Rameswar Nagar in the town, was booked under sections 420, 465, 467 and 294 of the IPC following a complaint by the SHG members.

The police said the SHG had been founded about 10 years ago with Sureswari Badhei as its president and Sahu, the secretary. It had 10 members and was given a loan of Rs 2 lakh by the UCO Bank branch here. Out of the Rs 2 lakh, each member was given Rs 10,000 to invest in their business, while the rest Rs 1 lakh was kept as security deposit in the bank. Each member used to pay Rs 1,000 as interest, Rs 50 as membership fees and Rs 5 for maintaining register of the SHG to the secretary every month.

The matter committed by the secretary came to light when the bank manager asked the members to repay the loan. When Sahu was confronted, she said she had not deposited anything in the bank to repay the loan.