KENDRAPARA: The postmaster of Kanipada Sabalanga village post office under Derabishi police limits in the district has allegedly embezzled around `80 lakh from the saving accounts of several depositors. Sources said irregularities were detected after some depositors came to know that postmaster Achutananda Kar illegally withdrew major chunks of the deposited money from their passbooks by doctoring their signatures and not mentioning it in the postal ledgers. But he reflected the amount in their passbooks. Kar, in nexus with other employees of the post office, has misappropriated the deposited money of around 120 passbook holders, sources added.
A depositor Dhanjaya Sahoo said, “Our family members had deposited around `35 lakh in the post office. Recently, we came to know that the postmaster doctored signatures of our family members and managed to withdraw the entire money from our accounts last month.”Another depositor Nagendra Samal alleged that the postmaster has misappropriated `two lakh from his account. Acting on the complaints and order of the Postal Inspector of Kendrapara South Sub-division, Postal Overseer Rabindranath Sahoo on Friday visited the post office and conducted investigation into the irregularities. “Preliminary investigation revealed that Kar has misappropriated huge amounts of deposits in the post office. All the depositors will get their deposited money soon. An FIR has been filed against Kar at Derabishi police station,” he said.
However, the postmaster managed to flee from the village. Assistant Superintendent of Post Office, Cuttack Division, Bhagyadhar Das said, “We are investigating into the matter and all the depositors will get their money soon. Similarly, legal action will be taken against the postmaster.”
Similar cases
Two years back, the postmaster of Karilopatana village had embezzled about `40 lakh by doctoring the signatures of several depositors
Last year, postmaster of Kujang sub-divisional post office in Jagatsinghpur district was also accused of embezzling about `20 lakh from saving accounts of depositors
Six months back, postmaster of Kundeswar village post office under Naugaon police limits in Jagatsinghpur was arrested on charges of misappropriating about `16 lakh from deposits