Odisha postmaster absconds after siphoning Rs 50 lakh after siphoning

A postmaster in Odisha's Jajpur district is absconding after allegedly misappropriating around Rs 50 lakh of depositors' money, an official said.

Postmaster of Kuanalo post office, Kodanadhara Boitai allegedly siphoned around Rs 50 lakh from the savings account of more than 50 depositors who had deposited their money in the post office and has been absconding since October 23, the official said on Monday.

On Monday depositors gheraoed the Assistant Superintendent of post offices in Jajpur town demanding their money back.

The forgery came to light when a woman depositor came to the Kuanalo post office to withdraw money from her account.

"The postmaster had collected passbooks of many depositors including me on the plea of entry of quarterly interest in the passbooks in September. The passbooks have been with him since then. When I came to withdraw money from my account, he asked me to come after two days on the plea that all passbooks have been sent to the Jajpur head Post office for interest calculation", said Sabitarani Das.

Jajpur Postal Division Assistant Superintendent Harisankar Subudhi said that the deposited money has been siphoned off by the postmaster over the last couple of months.

"We came to know about the incident last month. A departmental inquiry into the incident has been launched. Stern action will be taken against the erring officials as per the law," said Subudhi.