The headmaster of a primary school and a branch manager of Utkal Gramya Bank were arrested and remanded to judicial custody for misappropriating Rs 8 lakh in construction of a school building under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) here.
The Komna police held headmaster Khageswar Majhi ten months after an FIR was lodged by the District Project Coordinator, SSA, Nuapada in July last year on the basis of a complaint filed by a member of the School Management Committee (SMC) of the school at Malpada village under Komna block.
The SMC had alleged that the headmaster had withdrawn Rs 8 lakh from the bank account of the school without the sanction of the SMC and had misappropriated the whole amount. The school building was never constructed.
“After thorough investigation of the case, we have found that, Majhi had withdrawn Rs 8 lakh in five installments by forging documents in the name of the village SMC. Instead of utilizing the sum of money for construction, he misappropriated the fund in connivance with UGB Komna branch manager Bijaya Khaari and bank accountant Satyanarayan Salma,” said IIC Malaya Naik of Komna police station.
All the resolutions submitted by the headmaster in the bank while withdrawing the money were forged. Allowing withdrawal of the amount without verifying the signatures of the assigned persons revealed that the accountant and the branch manager are hand in gloves with the headmaster, Naik said.
The police are searching for the accountant who is absconding.