Paradip, Sept. 1: The postal department has asked the CBI to probe into the alleged embezzlement of depositors’ money in a post office near Paradip.

An estimated Rs 20 lakh was found misappropriated and the postmaster of the Kujang sub-divisional post office is absconding.

Depositors, most of them senior citizens, were allegedly taken for a ride as the postmaster embezzled the deposits under the monthly income scheme and monthly recurring deposit schemes.

The postal fraud has triggered public outrage even as the duped account holders found their hard-earned savings missing from their postal accounts.

“There was a departmental inquiry into the fraud and the misappropriation has been detected. However, the depositors’ money is safe. They may get back their savings on production of documentary evidence,” said Kujang postal inspector Divya Singh Tripathy.

As the post office was closed, it was broken open in the presence of police and the executive magistrate on Friday. The matter has been referred to the CBI for further investigation, Tripathy said.

The inquiry team has recorded the statement of some of the depositors. The ledger books, passbooks and relevant records have been seized.

Departmental sources said the embezzlement was confined to the MIS and recurring deposits accounts.

The postmaster allegedly pocketed the MIS funds and deposits were not entered in the ledger book. The monthly interest accrued from the deposits was paid to the depositors by other postal personnel involved in the fraud from their own pockets.

Monthly recurring deposits too were pocketed by postal agents with the connivance of the postmaster.

The fraud came to light after one of the duped account holders went to the post office to claim his money because he thought his savings account had matured and was due for payment, said an official.