Kullu (Himachal Pradesh): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing the Rs 1.16 crore 'scam', which has taken place in the Kullu Post Office, a senior official said on Friday.
"The CBI has registered a case and the investigation is underway. Efforts are being made to find out how much money the woman officer has embezzled and what has been done with the embezzled money," said Balveer Singh, Deputy Superintendent, CBI Shimla.
A case of embezzlement came to light in a post office in Sultanpur, Kullu. Sources said the initial investigation found irregularities in the accounts of government schemes like Post Office Savings Accounts, Recurring Deposits and 'Sukanya Samriddhi'. "The department of post first conducted an internal inquiry and found embezzlement to the tune of around Rs 36 lakh. They then handed the probe to CBI," sources added.
According to the sources from the postal department, the matter came to light in January 2024 when a person made an entry in his passbook.
"As soon as the person saw the entry, he was shocked because there was no money in his account. He showed the depositing receipts to the officials. Then one day the accused sub-post master prepared a report of the money deposited in the post office under different schemes and handed over the cash. After counting, the amount of money was found to be less. This is how the whole fraud came to light," sources added.
It is understood that the postal department then found that money was withdrawn from many accounts.
"Irregularities have come to light in the Sultanpur branch but the amount of embezzlement will be known only after investigation. The investigation is ongoing and all the accounts are being scrutinized so that the actual amount of embezzlement can be known," said Manohar Lal, Assistant Superintendent, Main Post Office Kullu
Sources added that an initial investigation of the department revealed that about 6,000 accounts have been opened in the post office under various savings schemes. "Of which, around 3,000 accounts were investigated and embezzlement of Rs 40 lakhs came to light. The Postal department suspended the accused sub-postmaster, who had been working in the said post office for around two years," they added.
Sources from the probe agency said that the CBI investigation found that Rs 80 lakh was embezzled from only 100 accounts. "2,900 accounts are yet to be investigated. The CBI team also reached the house of the accused and recovered Rs 2 lakh in cash. The accused is being interrogated," sources added.
