E-Paper
Ex-BDPO, sarpanch booked for embezzling ₹37 lakh in SBS Nagar
The two were indicted in a probe conducted by police on the complaint of the rural and panchayat development department
A former block development and panchayat officer (BDPO) and an ex-sarpanch of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar’s Sheikhupur village were booked on Friday for alleged embezzlement of development funds to the tune of ₹37 lakh.
The accused are former Aur block BDPO Ashok Kumar, who is now retired, and Sharda Devi, the ex-village head.
The case was registered against the two on the complaint of the rural and panchayat development department after a probe was conducted by a superintendent of police (SP)-rank official into the alleged embezzlement of funds. The two were indicted in the probe.
The funds were siphoned off from ₹84. 31 lakh the village had received under various schemes.
The ex-sarpanch and Ashok Kumar, who was then a panchayat secretary, didn’t match ₹37 lakh in the account books.
A police official said while Kumar didn’t join the probe, the former sarpanch failed to show any document proving her innocence. The case was registered under section 420 (punishment for cheating) of the Indian Penal Code at the Mukandpur police station.
