Berhampur: Special Vigilance Judge Dr Arun Kumar Sahu Friday sentenced a former sarpanch to two years in prison after convicting him in a government fund embezzlement case. In addition, the judge also imposed a penalty of Rs 5,000 on him.
In case of default, the convict has to undergo three more months of rigorous imprisonment, the judge said. The accused sarpanch has been identified as D Rama Rao (49) of Kidigaon panchayat under Kashinagar block of Gajapati district. During the trial of the case, another main accused, the gram sevak and executive officer of the panchayat, Adikand Raita, died.
So he was dropped from the case. In the 2006-07 financial year, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Employment Scheme (MNREGS) sanctioned funds for road construction and other works in the panchayat. A complaint was lodged with the Vigilance that the funds were embezzled in Kidigaon panchayat. A Vigilance team investigated the incident. During the investigation, the duo could not give the account of Rs 1.41 lakh. It was found that the panchayat had submitted a false bill of Rs 59,023 for SukarnpetaBairiguda road works.
Similarly, it was found that another false bill worth Rs 48,295 was given for Venkatpur-Apalanaidupeta road work. It was written in the cashbook that he had paid off the debt worth Rs 10,000, the details of which were not found.
On the other hand, it was also found that a false bill of Rs 13,973 was submitted for the purchase of rice. All these irregularities took place between August 15, 2009 and November 2, 2009. Berhampur Vigilance had filed a case (No-54/11) in this regard December 3, 2011. Statements of 12 witnesses were recorded during the trial of the case. Special Public Prosecutor Surendra Panda was advocating the case on behalf of the government.