Bhubaneswar: Odisha Vigilance sleuths arrested a former secretary of a service cooperative society for allegedly misappropriating government funds amounting to Rs 33,80,963.
The accused, identified as Patitapaban Majhi, was the former secretary of Garhsantri Service Co-operative Society (SCS) under Angul United Central Co-operative Bank (AUCCB) Ltd, Banarpal Branch. He is currently working as a banking assistant at the AUCCB headquarters in Angul.
Vigilance said in a statement on Saturday that the embezzlement took place during 2017-18. While serving as executive secretary, Majhi was responsible for handling daily financial collections and government deposits. He allegedly made fraudulent and fabricated entries in the society’s primary account logs (Day Books) to show that the funds had been properly accounted for and deposited.
However, the probe revealed that the physical cash totalling Rs 33,80,963 was never deposited into the Angul United Central Co-operative Bank. The diverted funds, meant for agricultural and cooperative development schemes, were allegedly siphoned off for personal use.
A case has been registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, along with relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code. Majhi was arrested and is being forwarded to the court of the Special Judge, Vigilance, Angul on Saturday. Further investigation is underway.
