Bhubaneswar, June 19: Officials of the state crime branch's economic offences wing today arrested a senior employee of Sarala Realcon Private Ltd, which has allegedly cheated around 250 customers of Rs 20 crore by promising them land.

The investigating agency arrested the company's marketing director Kailash Muduli on charges of swindling Rs 20 lakh from the firm's account. He was arrested during a raid on his residence in the city.

"The money was transferred to Muduli's personal account from the company's bank account. Investigation revealed that the deposited money belonged to the investors," said a wing official. He further said the accused had also taken Rs 10 lakh from the firm.

Muduli is the third office-bearer of the company to be arrested by the investigating agency. Earlier, the wing had arrested the firm's managing director Gayadhar Jena and his partner Nibas Jena.

"The firm has completed seven plotting schemes and at least 10 real estate projects across Bhubaneswar. The projects are located at Jharpada, Pandara, Balianta and Satyabhamapur," said a police official. Sources said Jena was also the producer of Odia film Chauka Chhaka that was released in 2013.

In another development, the wing officials today arrested the former manager of Odisha Gramya Bank's Ratei branch in Balasore district on charges of misappropriating Rs 1.39 crore. The accused, Prasant Mohanty, in connivance with some other employees, had allegedly embezzled the amount between 2006 and 2014.

In March, the investigating agency had arrested the office assistant-cum-cashier of the branch, Subrat Kumar Piri, in connection with the same case.

"The accused misappropriated fixed deposits and diverted the money to 156 fake accounts. Later, he transferred the money to their accounts," said a wing official.

The wing had registered a case on December 22 last year based on the complaint of the bank's general manager (vigilance wing) Surendra Lenka.