Police book sarpanch, secy for embezzling grant money

Tarn Taran, June 8

The district administration has unearthed a case of embezzlement of lakhs of rupees of the grants released to the Padhri Kalan Gram Panchayat. Inquiry in this regard was conducted on the orders of the Tarn Taran Deputy Commissioner, and was completed by the Block Development and Panchayat Officer (BDPO), Tarn Taran.

Harjinder Singh Sandhu, District Development and Panchayat Officer (DDPO), said this pending departmental inquiry has now been completed. The police said that a grant worth Rs 74,07,906 was released to the panchayat and Rs 57,46,360 of it was embezzled. The police said Sarpanch Rachpal Kaur and Manjinder Singh, secretary of the Panchayat, failed to produced the record of the utilisation of the grants.

The police said Rachpal Kaur and Manjinder Singh were booked under sections 409 and 120-B of the IPC on Friday. The accused remain absconding.