KENDRAPARA: A panchayat executive officer (PEO) in Kendrapara’s Rajnagar block was placed under suspension on charges of misappropriating funds of six development projects, on Saturday.
Apart from suspending Manoj Kumar Pradhan, PEO of Kuranti gram panchayat, the block authorities also issued a show cause notice to sarpanch Sasmita Mohanty for her alleged involvement in the matter.
The decision was made after villagers of the block on Thursday went on an indefinite hunger strike in front of Rajnagar block office seeking strict action against the sarpanch and the PEO.
“Acting on the complaints received from the villagers, we launched an investigation and accordingly suspended Pradhan and issued show cause notice to sarpanch Mohanty for allegedly embezzling government funds of the panchayat,” said Rajnagar BDO Rabindra Pradhan.
Six months back, the former PEO of Kuranti Chandan Das was suspended for embezzling government funds.