CBI raids ₹1,109 crore Canara Bank fraud: 6 premises searched across 4 states
Synopsis
The CBI simultaneously raided six locations across four states — including the homes of four directors and three manufacturing units — in a ₹1,109 crore Canara Bank fraud case against Gupta Power Infrastructure Ltd. The alleged scheme involved falsified financials, inflated receivables, and systematic evergreening of accounts, making it one of the larger public-sector bank fraud cases to reach the raid stage this year.
Key Takeaways
The CBI searched 6 premises across West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu , and Uttarakhand on 19 July .
The case involves Gupta Power Infrastructure Ltd, Bhubaneswar , accused of defrauding Canara Bank of ₹1,109 crore .
Alleged methods include manipulation of stock values, inflated trade receivables, falsified financial statements, and evergreening of accounts .
Raids were authorised by the Special Judge, CBI, Bhubaneswar , and covered residential premises of 4 accused directors and 3 manufacturing units .
In a separate case, Prabhu Dayal was arrested for impersonating a government official and demanding a ₹45,000 bribe from a poultry farmer in Uttarakhand .
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches at six premises across four states — West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and Uttarakhand — on Saturday, 19 July, in connection with an alleged ₹1,109 crore bank fraud involving Gupta Power Infrastructure Ltd, a Bhubaneswar-based infrastructure firm. The raids, authorised by the Special Judge, CBI, Bhubaneswar, targeted residential and commercial properties linked to the accused company and its directors.
Premises Covered in the Raids
The search operations spanned the residential premises of four accused directors of Gupta Power Infrastructure Ltd in Bhubaneswar, Odisha; the company's registered office in Kolkata, West Bengal; and three manufacturing units located at Kashipur, District Udham Singh Nagar, Uttarakhand; Tiruvallur, Tamil Nadu; and Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The coordinated, multi-state nature of the operation signals the CBI's intent to map the full financial trail of the alleged fraud.
How the Fraud Was Allegedly Carried Out
Canara Bank filed the complaint that triggered the CBI case, alleging the company defrauded it of ₹1,109 crore through a combination of fund-based and non-fund-based financial facilities. According to the bank's complaint, the accused allegedly manipulated stock valuations, inflated trade receivables, and falsified financial statements to secure enhanced credit limits. The funds were then allegedly siphoned and diverted, with the accused also resorting to evergreening of accounts — a practice where fresh loans are used to repay older dues, masking the true extent of default and causing a wrongful loss to the bank.
Separate CBI Action: Impersonation and Bribe Demand
In a separate operation on Sunday, 20 July, the CBI arrested one Prabhu Dayal for allegedly impersonating a government official named Rishi Gupta of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi. Dayal was accused of demanding a bribe of ₹45,000 — or 2 per cent of a loan amount of ₹22.50 lakh — from a poultry farm owner in Uttarakhand in exchange for loan approval. He was arrested from his native village in Agra and subsequently produced before the Competent Court at Dehradun. The case was originally registered by the CBI's Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), Dehradun, on 29 June.
Broader Context: CBI's Crackdown on Economic Offences
The Gupta Power Infrastructure case is part of a wider pattern of CBI action against large-scale bank fraud in India's infrastructure sector, where inflated collateral and evergreening have repeatedly surfaced as instruments of financial misappropriation. Canara Bank, a public sector lender, has been among the banks most exposed to such alleged corporate fraud. Notably, this operation comes amid continued regulatory and investigative pressure on infrastructure firms that drew heavy credit during the pre-2016 lending boom. The outcome of the searches — including any recoveries of documents, digital assets, or movable property — is expected to shape the next phase of the investigation.
Point of View
Then allegedly papers over stress through evergreening and inflated receivables until the bank's own audit flags the gap. What distinguishes this raid is its geographic reach — four states, six premises, residential and industrial — suggesting the CBI has already mapped a substantial asset trail before going public. The real question is whether the investigation will move quickly enough to freeze assets before they are further dissipated. Past large-ticket bank fraud cases have shown that the gap between raid and recovery can be wide enough to render eventual convictions financially hollow.
NationPress
20 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Gupta Power Infrastructure CBI case about?
It is a bank fraud case in which Gupta Power Infrastructure Ltd of Bhubaneswar, Odisha is accused of defrauding Canara Bank of ₹1,109 crore through manipulated financials, inflated receivables, and evergreening of loan accounts. The CBI registered the case and conducted searches on 19 July across four states.
Which locations did the CBI search in this case?
The CBI searched six premises: the residential properties of four accused directors in Bhubaneswar , the company's registered office in Kolkata , and manufacturing units in Kashipur (Uttarakhand) , Tiruvallur (Tamil Nadu) , and Bhubaneswar (Odisha) .
What is evergreening of accounts and why is it significant here?
Evergreening refers to the practice of using fresh loans to repay existing dues, artificially keeping accounts from appearing as non-performing assets. In this case, Canara Bank alleged that Gupta Power Infrastructure used this method to conceal the true scale of default and continue drawing credit from the bank.
Who was arrested separately by the CBI on 20 July?
Prabhu Dayal was arrested for impersonating a government official of the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying and demanding a bribe of ₹45,000 from a poultry farm owner in Uttarakhand . He was arrested from Agra and produced before a court in Dehradun .
What happens next in the Gupta Power Infrastructure fraud case?
Following the searches, the CBI is expected to analyse seized documents and digital records to build its chargesheet. Asset attachment proceedings under relevant financial laws may follow, depending on the evidence recovered during the raids.
