Balangir, Aug. 16: The two prime accused in the case of misappropriation of at least Rs 5 crore from the department of Sarva Sikshya Abhiyan of the district today surrendered at Town police station.
The two — Dakhtar Sahu and Jethu Sahu — had been absconding since May after their alleged misdeed was detected. They had disappeared after reportedly admitting their guilt before the then district collector Debaraj Mishra.
Police took the custody of the duo and a team of crime branch will interrogate them.
The court of Balangir sub-district judicial magistrate had issued a non-bailable warrant against them, and soon after, Orissa High Court rejected their prayer for anticipatory bail.
The incident came to light on May 1, when one Biswamitra Dhal from Allahabad Bank of Balangir called up the financial consultant of the Sarva Sikshya Abhiyan Iswara Chandra Pradhan and informed him that their branch had an abhiyan account, which was rarely used. Frequent transactions took place in other abhiyan accounts, while one particular account was rarely used.
Dhal also said three cheques of Rs 56.41 lakh of that account had come for clearance. Pradhan went to the bank to examine the cheques’ authenticity and found out that those had not been issued from his office.
Balangir sub-collector Jyoti Ranjan Pradhan, who was the then in charge of departmental promotion committee, found that his signatures were forged on all the three cheques.