Kendrapada: Vigilance Department arrested a senior revenue assistant of Derabish block in Odisha’s Kendrapada district for allegedly embezzling over Rs 3.03 crore by preparing fake bills on the Human Resource Management System (HRMS) portal in the names of retired and deceased government employees.
The accused, identified as Sasikanta Rana, was arrested from Anugola following digital tracking after remaining absconding for a considerable period. He was subsequently produced before a court.
According to the investigation, Rana allegedly misappropriated a total of Rs 3,03,65,843 while working in two blocks. He was in charge of the establishment section, where he handled the processing of bills related to employees’ salaries, arrears and pensions.
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While posted at Rajkanika block from August 30, 2023, to September 4, 2024, he allegedly embezzled Rs 1,46,68,118. Similarly, during his tenure at Derabish block between January and October 2025, he allegedly misappropriated another Rs 1,56,97,725.
The investigation revealed that the accused allegedly generated fraudulent claims on the HRMS portal in the names of retired and deceased employees to withdraw money towards salaries, arrears, gratuity, unutilised leave encashment and pension benefits.
Instead of providing the bank account details of the actual beneficiaries, he allegedly entered account numbers belonging to himself, his family members and a relative to divert the funds.
Accounts maintained with the State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of India and Indian Bank were allegedly used for the transactions, the investigation found.
