Cuttack, Oct. 18: The civic body will lodge a police complaint against councillors, who have failed to return relief materials or repay the amount in lieu of the food stock issued to them.

Commissioner of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation Nihar Ranjan Mohapatra today said the councillors had been served notice to return the relief stuff. The move comes in the wake of allegations of embezzlement of the relief materials by some councillors.

The district administration and the civic body had procured the relief stuff to provide cooked food to the cyclone victims.

Mohapatra, however, said there had been no embezzlement and “excess quantity” of food had earlier been issued to the councillors.

Records reveal that 27 councillors had been issued with more relief materials than they were entitled to. Two councillors have paid over Rs 1 lakh for the food stock issued to them.

The councillors have been given a week’s time to return the materials.

“We will lodge police complaint against the councillors, who will fail to submit the acquaintance roll (which has signatures of the beneficiaries) or do not return the materials or repay the amount,” said Mohapatra.

He said it was initially decided to provide cooked food to 24,832 people, who were evacuated before Phailin on October 12. Since most of the people, who were earlier evacuated and shifted to 73 identified shelters at 54 wards, had left for their respective homes on October 13, it was decided to distribute the materials.

However, there was chaos and the deputy commissioner-cum-relief officer J.N. Kujur was forced to issue excess quantity of materials to the councillors under duress.