E-Paper
Panipat: 2 panchayat officials held for siphoning off money
As per the police, the accused have been identified as accountant Suresh Lathar and section officer Harish Kumar. Police had already arrested Neeraj Kumar and Sanjay of Atawala village in the case in January last year.
Police have arrested two officials of Haryana panchayat and development department for fraudulently withdrawing ₹84.49 lakh from the account of the department in Panipat with the help of a contractor.
As per the police, the accused have been identified as accountant Suresh Lathar and section officer Harish Kumar. Police had already arrested Neeraj Kumar and Sanjay of Atawala village in the case in January last year.
The matter came to light in May 2021, when Executive Engineer Sanjeev Kumar filed a police complaint about the fraud and alleged that Neeraj and Sanjay of Atwala village had siphoned off the money from the account of the department by forging signatures.
During the investigation, police found out that Neeraj, who had a construction firm registered in the name of his father, with the help of Suresh and Harish, had transferred the money into the account of his father’s firm and Neeraj had withdrawn the money and returned it as cash to Suresh and Harish and they had paid him 8% commission.
Panipat DSP Dharambir Kharab said during interrogation, Neeraj had told the police that the accused had also forged signatures of the executive engineer on cheques to transfer the money.
He said the money has already been recovered from them and they have been sent to the judicial custody by the district court.
