PHULBANI: Tikabali police on Thursday arrested a postmaster for allegedly misappropriating around Rs 17 lakh collected from customers for deposit into their accounts at Gardingia sub post office in Kandhamal district.
The accused, Girish Nayak of Dakapala village under Phulbani police station, was apprehended from the G Udayagiri area following an investigation. Sources said Nayak had been collecting money from customers for deposit into their savings accounts, assuring them that the transactions would be processed through a mobile application. However, he allegedly failed to credit the amounts to the respective accounts and instead misappropriated the funds.
The fraud came to light after several customers discovered that the money they had handed over to the postmaster had not been deposited into their accounts. Subsequently, multiple complaints were lodged against him.
Following the complaints, inspector of G Udayagiri postal sub-division Birakishore Nayak filed a report with Tikabali police. Acting on the complaint, police launched an investigation and arrested the accused.
Police said further investigation is underway to ascertain whether more customers were affected and to determine the exact amount misappropriated.