Berhampur: Berhampur police arrested a former Panchayat Executive Officer (PEO) in Odisha’s Ganjam district on charges of embezzlement of government funds to the tune of over Rs 1.37 crore by presenting forged documents.
The 29-year-old accused Samir Kumar Mishra, Ex-PEO of Keluapalli Gram Panchayat (GP) under Rangeilunda block, belongs to Aska area of Ganjam district. He was arrested Sunday.
The fund embezzlement came to fore after Biswajit Ray, the BDO, Rangeilunda lodged a complaint at the Golanthara police station in this regard.
During investigation, the cops ascertained that accused Mishra was working as PEO of Keluapalli GP since 2019.
It was also found that Mishra was managing all the financial transactions of the GP with the approval of Sarapanch. To facilitate the developmental works of the government, the cheque books, cash books and other documents were entrusted to Mishra and he was the custodian of the same. In the event of withdrawal of money, both signatures of the PEO and Sarapanch are mandatory as all the accounts were joint accounts.
“But accused Ex-PEO Mishra for his personal and illegal gain and with dishonest intention, put the fake signature of Sarpanch in the cheque books and withdrew around Rs 1.37 crore by producing the fake cheques at the Union Bank branch at Tulu in Ganjam district since around one year,” said a senior police official.
The police also found that Mishra had prepared a fake passbook and handed over the same to present PEO Susanta Kumar Pattanik of Keluapalli GP.
“During annual audit for the year 2023-24, Mishra has also produced the fake passbooks for verification. The entire fraud amount was misappropriated by the accused for his own use knowing that the money belongs to the government, sanctioned for development works of Keluapali GP,” added the senior police official.
IANS
