BERHAMPUR: Vigilance sleuths on Wednesday arrested five persons including four staff members of Kodala community health centre (CHC) in Ganjam district for their alleged involvement in misappropriation of government funds to the tune of over Rs 2 crore.
The arrested persons are senior assistant of Kodala CHC Jatin Bhuyan, multi-purpose health worker Bharati Pradhan, attendant Gopal Nahak, sweeper Manu Nayak and attendant of Beguniapada PHC Rama Chandra Mallika.
According to Vigilance officials, the accused adopted a well-planned modus operandi by preparing fraudulent arrear salary bills in the names of employees and pocketing their pending salaries. They also found that digital signatures of CHC superintendent Dr Aditya Prasad Sahu were forged to authorise illegal transactions, pointing to a deeper level of manipulation and possible collusion.
The scam came to light after a complaint was lodged by the Kodala treasury in January. Subsequently, a three-member inquiry team led by ADMO Dr Biswambar Behera conducted a probe. The team submitted its report on March 27 to the chief district medical officer, who forwarded it to higher authorities.
Following the findings, the state health directorate on April 2 ordered suspension of seven staff members allegedly involved in the scam. The directorate then lodged a complaint with the Vigilance alleging that the CHC staff fraudulently withdrew salary amounts by preparing fake bills between 2023 and 2025.
The Vigilance launched an investigation on basis of the complaint and found that the scam dated back to 2021, with total embezzlement pegged at over Rs 2.51 crore.
Vigilance officials said further investigation is underway to ascertain the full extent of the fraud and identify other persons involved.