Kendrapara, Sept. 5: Police have registered criminal cases against eight headmasters of government-run schools for misappropriation of school development funds.

Additional superintendent of police Ramesh Chandra Mohanty said penal action had been taken against the accused headmasters after an investigation.

Last week, the headmaster of a government-run primary school was arrested on the charge of embezzling government funds earmarked for building school toilets.

The cops have started investigations against seven other headmasters of government-run primary educational institutions for embezzling funds worth Rs 20 lakh earmarked for building toilets in schools.

The headmaster of Gokhapada primary school, Nirmal Kumar Acharya, has been accused of embezzling Rs 5.14 lakh, provided by government agencies, for building toilets in primary schools. "There is corroborative evidence of funds embezzlement against the accused headmaster. Investigations revealed there were no toilets in the two schools in which he had officiated as the headmaster. The funds released by the district wing of Sarva Siksha Abhiyan for the development of infrastructure in the schools were misused by the accused headmaster," said Mohanty.

"It was found the toilets were either not built at all or partially built, but the funds were allotted against them a long time ago. This is a criminal offence and breach of trust by a public servant," said district education officer Sangram Sahu.

The headmasters could not produce valid utilisation certificates to support use of the government funds.

Police complaints have lodged against them, Sahu added.