BERHAMPUR: Rayagada police on Saturday registered a case against a Management Information System (MIS) consultant and his assistant for allegedly misappropriating over Rs 1.09 crore from the District Urban Development Agency (DUDA), bringing an end to nearly 10 days of speculation surrounding the financial irregularities.
Police said the accused, Binaya Harijan and his associate Rameswar Sahu, are on the run. They were booked after a complaint filed by project director of DRDA-cum-chief development officer (CDO) Akshaya Khemundu.
Preliminary investigation revealed that Binaya, an outsourced MIS consultant who also handled cashier responsibilities at DUDA, reportedly siphoned off government funds amounting to around Rs 1.09 crore over the past five to seven years using forged signatures by targeting a specific departmental bank account.
The fraud came to light on July 10, after which Binaya reportedly locked his office chamber and went missing. His mobile phone is switched off since then, while the DUDA office continues to remain locked.
Rayagada Sadar IIC Prasanna Kumar Behera said the two accused have been absconding for the past 10 days, and a search operation is underway to trace them.
The incident has raised questions over the agency’s financial oversight. Despite annual audits and internal financial controls, the embezzlement reportedly went undetected for years. Officials are also examining how an outsourced employee could access and transfer such a large amount of government funds without triggering institutional safeguards.
Sources said the misappropriated amount included funds earmarked for staff salaries, vehicle fuel, contingency expenses and other official expenditure. As DUDA had reportedly not received major scheme funds over the past two years, investigators believe the operational funds were siphoned off gradually over several years.
CDO Khemundu had ordered a departmental inquiry to investigate the financial irregularities, identify administrative lapses and ascertain whether any other officials were involved. The inquiry committee submitted its report on Friday.
Police are also expected to examine the role of the bank concerned in processing transactions allegedly carried out using forged signatures. Investigation is on and efforts are underway to determine whether others were involved in the alleged fraud, police said.
