Finally, Vigilance sleuths on Thursday arrested Odisha Association for the Blind (OAB) general secretary Bihari Nayak, the prime accused in a scam of misappropriation of Rs 56 lakh.
Nayak along with two other office-bearers of the OAB was charged with misappropriation to the tune of Rs 56,30,629 sanctioned under the Centrally-sponsored scheme of inclusive education in the secondary stage by the Department of School Education and literacy of the Union Ministry of HRD during 2009-10 to 2013-14 by forging the records of account.
Though Nayak had moved the Orissa High Court for bail, the court rejected his application on April 27.
Meanwhile, Vigilance department has started investigation into the role of two other accused Kedar Nath Sahoo and Ashok Kumar Nanda in connection with the fraud.
An FIR was lodged by the Bhubaneswar Vigilance SP against the three OAB office-bearers, Bihari Nayak, Kedar Nath Sahoo and Ashok Nanda, on October 30 last year.
Blind activist Sanyas Behera, who was fighting against the corruption, demanded immediate arrest of the two other accused persons.