Paradip, July 16: A village postmaster was taken into custody on the charge of embezzling more than Rs16 Lakh from savings accounts of various persons from Kundeswar post office in Jagatsinghpur district.

“The accused, Raghunath Rath, was absconding since September. However, acting on a tip-off, the police arrested him from Jagatsinghpur today,” said inspector of Naugaon police station Manoranjan Choudhury.

The inspector said: “He has been booked under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code. He was produced in the court of the sub-divisional judicial magistrate in Jagatsinghpur today. The court rejected his bail application and remanded him in jail custody,” .

Irregularities were detected after some of the account holders found deposits withdrawn from their accounts without their knowledge. The accused had withdrawn money from savings accounts, monthly income scheme accounts and recurring deposit accounts of 81 depositors between 2008 and 2013 by forging specimen signature of depositors, said a source in the police.

Depositors, mainly senior citizens, were taken for a ride as the accused postmaster of the said sub-post office embezzled the deposits for several years. The postal deposit fraud has triggered public outrage in the district.