Jajpur, Oct. 9: Embezzlement of over Rs 1.9 crore funds has been detected by audit officials at the district panchayat office (DPO) in Jajpur.

An inquiry has revealed that Bichitrananda Mohanty, cashier of the DPO allegedly withdrew the money from two bank accounts using fake signatures of the authorities. Mohanty, however, is absconding.

During the internal audit for the financial year 2010-11, the auditing officials asked the cashier to submit details of the unspent money. The cashier told them the unspent Rs 2,27,57,773 was kept in SBI and UCO bank accounts. When they asked the cashier to produce the bank passbooks, he allegedly did not furnish them. Suspecting foul play, they contacted the bank authorities and asked them to verify the accounts. There, they found only Rs 37,23,106 left in both the accounts.

“Being certain of the misappropriation, they intimated it to panchayati raj secretary P.K. Jena. Jena had then asked the Jajpur collector for further inquiry. The collector found the allegation true,” said DPO Narayan Chandra Behera.

“The panchayati raj secretary had asked me to conduct an inquiry on the report of the misappropriation of sum of Rs 1,90,34,667 from the DPO as detected by the internal auditors. I formed an inquiry committee consisting of the sub-collector, the DRDA project director and the concerned DPO. The committee confirmed the reports of the auditors. I then called Bichitrananda Mohanty. He admitted the crime and promised to return the money. As he did not pay the money and went missing, I directed the DPO to file an FIR against him. Now, the police is investigating the case,” said Jajpur collector Anil Kumar Samal.