Bhubaneswar, Dec. 24: Police today arrested two persons on charges of cheating and misappropriation of funds amounting to Rs 34 lakh from a company that deposits money in automated teller machines (ATM) on behalf of various banks.

The accused, Satyanarayan Mohapatra, 52, a former branch manager of Logicash Solutions Private Limited, and Mithun Swain, 27, one of its employees, were arrested for the fraud allegedly committed in April.

The police said Mohapatra had misappropriated the mo-ney and then left the company in April. "The agency receives lakhs of rupees on a daily basis for depositing in ATMs. Mohapatra left the job, fearing that he would be caught during audit," said a police official.

When the company's audit, carried out in April, had revealed misappropriation of Rs 34 lakh, it lodged a case at Kharavela Nagar police station in August.

"We have arrested two persons in this case, and we are looking forward to nabbing two other accused," said a police official. The cops said further investigation revealed the involvement of Mohapatra in a similar case where he had stolen Rs 1.5 lakh.

"An ATM was broken and the depositing agency had asked Mohapatra to deposit the money kept in that ATM in the bank. However, Mohapatra pocketed the cash. But, he was spared after two of his colleagues deposited the money," said a police official.

The police suspected that Mohapatra might have given the money on loan to get a high interest. "We will scrutinise the bank accounts of Mohapatra and his wife to trace the money he had misappropriated," said inspector in charge of Kharavela Nagar police station Sanjiv Satpathy.

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The police last night arrested two others accused in the doctor couple murder case. The cops arrested Tikina, a domestic help at the victims' house, and her husband Jaban Nayak from Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh.