Post News Network
Chhatrapur, Oct 3: Crime Branch sleuths Saturday started a probe of the alleged misappropriation of Rs50 lakh from a fishery department-owned petrol pump here in Ganjam district.
The matter came to the fore after two DSP rank police officers of the economic offences wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch reached here Saturday and began a probe.
DSPs Tapan Kumar Mohanty and Ganesh Pradhan enquired about the circumstances that led to misappropriation of the government money. They first visited the Chhatrapur police station and had a discussion with IIC Bishnu Prasad Patra on the issue.
The Crime Branch sleuths are laying stress on recovery of the money. Earlier, three persons including the petrol pump manager, Rabindra Jena, were arrested for the offence. However, there was no trace of the misappropriated money.
The two other accused are Kailash Pradhan and Pradip Sahu of the area. Jena instead of depositing the money in government account, allegedly lent the money to several peoples at high interest rates. He is believed to have lent money to Pradhan and Sahu to buy oil tankers.
The sleuths visited various government offices and enquired about the matter. They also simultaneously visited the bank and verified the accounts. They are likely to probe various transactions made by Jena.
The incident raised a lot of hue and cry after a senior official, Amiya Kumar Pattnaik of Orissa Fishery Development Corporation Ltd, lodged a complaint in the Chhatrapur police station against Jena about misappropriation of the money.
