A Sarpanch, who allegedly embezzled Rs4.20 lakh through a proposal for construction of the boundary wall of a school that already existed, was arrested by the Special Investigation Cell (SIC) on Saturday. However, the co-accused in the case is on the run, police said.
According to inspector Ashok Joshi of SIC, the accused has been identified as Santulal Banjare (31), resident of Matiya village under Vidhansabha police station area in Raipur. He is Sarpanch of Matiya Gram Panchayat.
A report against Banjare and Bishat Verma, the secretary of village panchayat, was registered with the Vidhansabha police station. “The duo prepared a proposal for construction of boundary wall of a primary school at lalpur and got sanctioned Rs10 lakh for the work. However, the boundary wall was already exists,” said inspector Joshi. They had withdrawn Rs4 lakh from the sanctioned amount, he added.