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13h ago EN
Odisha: Nuapada NAC Assistant Accountant held for embezzling over Rs 20 lakh govt funds
Bhubaneswar: An Assistant Accountant of the Nuapada Notified Area Council (NAC) has been arrested for allegedly embezzling government funds worth Rs 20.89 lakh by forging the signature of the civic body’s Executive Officer (EO) on cheques and transferring the money into his personal bank account. The accused allegedly spent a substantial portion of the misappropriated money on online Aviator gaming. The arrested employee has been identified as Gopal Mahananda, who was working as an assistant accountant at Nuapada NAC. Police arrested him following a complaint lodged by NAC Executive Officer Sandeep Chandrakar and subsequently forwarded him to court late last night. According to information, around eight years ago, the Odisha government had sanctioned Rs 50 lakh for the construction and renovation of the Nuapada bus stand. The amount was deposited in the NAC's bank account. However, as the funds remained unutilised for several years, the money continued to lie in the account. Taking advantage of the situation, Mahananda allegedly began withdrawing money from the account without the approval or signature of the Executive Officer. He reportedly prepared fake official letters and forged the EO's signature on cheques to transfer government funds into his own bank account. Preliminary findings suggest that the accused carried out around 20 suspicious transactions, involving a total of Rs 20,89,799. He allegedly forged the Executive Officer's signature on 16 cheques to withdraw the money. The irregularities came to light when EO Sandeep Chandrakar noticed the suspicious transactions and questioned Mahananda. Following this, the accused reportedly deposited Rs 3.40 lakh back into the government account. However, approximately Rs 17.50 lakh remained unaccounted for. On November 4, Chandrakar lodged a written complaint at Nuapada police station, alleging that Mahananda had misappropriated Rs 20,89,799 from the funds sanctioned for the bus stand project through forged cheques and unauthorised withdrawals. Police registered a case and launched an investigation under the leadership of Nuapada police station officer Gangadhar Meher. A special police team examined the NAC's financial records and seized relevant documents as part of the investigation. During the probe, it reportedly emerged that the accused had spent the misappropriated government money on playing online Aviator games. Mahananda was arrested on Thursday and produced before the court late at night. Police said further investigation is underway to establish the full extent of the financial irregularities and trace the misappropriated funds.