Cuttack civic body sits on fund misuse probe reports

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Cuttack: Even though several cases of massive misappropriation of funds have come to light at the Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC), corrupt officials are escaping due to the absence of proper investigation.
The fund embezzlement at CMC’s Kathajodi filling station at Ganesh Ghat is an example. Sources claimed that an additional commissioner of the CMC recently submitted a probe report to the authorities but no action was taken.
Around Rs 3.70 lakh was misappropriated from the Kathajodi fuel filling station in 2005 and an additional commissioner of CMC was asked to probe the matter.
The officer, however, failed to submit a report to the authorities at that time due to some problems. He submitted the report to the CMC after his transfer recently.
“As there is a possibility of involvement of many top CMC officials in the scam, the report was swept under the carpet,” said a source.
Meanwhile, some corporators have said that even though reports of fund misappropriation have come out in other projects of the CMC during audit, no action has been taken against errant officials.
Commenting on the issue, corporator Giribala Behera said the CMC has turned into a hub of corruption. She said, “Each case of misappropriation, which comes out should be probed and action taken against those guilty.”
During an audit by the government, around Rs 2.10 crore of CMC’s Kalyan Mandap earnings were found embezzled. Following this an official was also punished.
Later, the CBI had unearthed CMC’s link with Seashore Chit Fund Company in 2014 after which two important files on the case went missing from CMC records. Although a case was registered with the Purighat police November 7, 2014, the cops are yet to find any lead.
Sources said CMC authorities are reluctant to initiate action against the officer involved in the filling station scam even though they have got the probe report.
When asked about the allegations, CMC Commissioner Bikash Chandra Mohapatra said, “Action is being taken in cases of fund embezzlement. The filling station case is being reviewed and action will be taken.”