BHOPAL: The hard-earned money of over two dozen families totalling more than Rs One Crore, which was to be fixed deposited at a sub-post office in Madhya Pradesh's Sagar district, has gone down the drain because of the sub-postmaster and his fascination for IPL (Indian Premier League) cricket betting.
The Bina sub-post office postmaster Vishal Ahirwar, who was arrested on May 20 by the Bina Government Railway Police (GRP) and is presently on police remand, has confessed before the police about putting entire Rs One Crore plus money into IPL betting over the last two years.
"The arrested sub-postmaster Vishal Ahirwar has been booked right now u/s 420 IPC (cheating) and 408 IPC (criminal breach of trust). More sections could be added in the case based on the outcome of further investigations," Bina-GRP police station in-charge Ajay Dhurve told The New Indian Express on Tuesday.
The postmaster, before being posted in the Bina post office, was posted at a sub-post office in Khimlasa (also in Sagar district) and was suspended following charges of financial irregularities, the police officer said.
Those who lost their hard-earned money/savings due to the cheating by the sub-postmaster included Varsha, who lost both her husband and father-in-law to the deadly Covid-19 pandemic.
"My husband had fixed deposited Rs 9 lakh before his death, but I recently came to know about the cheating and fraud by Vishal Ahirwar, after which I came to the sub-post office, where I was told that the fixed deposit account number (for which Vishal had issued FD certificate and passbook also) doesn't exist. With my husband and father-in-law no longer alive, I don't know what to do now," Varsha said.
Elderly lady Kishori Bai too had fixed deposited her savings worth Rs 5 lakh, but the fixed deposit account opened via Vishal Ahirwar and related documents all turned out to be fake. "I have four daughters and had fix-deposited Rs 5 lakh for their marriage, but all have been lost. I don't know what to do, if I don't get my money back, my two daughters, who are of marriageable age will remain unmarried," she said.
Another man, whose mother retired from government service a few years back, fix deposited Rs 18 lakh out of her post-retirement benefits for securing the future of his children, but he has now been told by the post office that none of the three fixed deposits, opened through Vishal Ahirwar, exist at the sub-post office.
"The accused sub-postmaster issued genuine passbooks for fake FD accounts and put entire money into IPL cricket betting for the last two years," the Bina GRP in-charge told.