Puri: The Vigilance department has started an investigation into the misappropriation of funds generated through letting out of the conference hall of Gopabandhu Ayurveda Mahavidyalaya here to various government and private agencies.
The Vigilance sleuths have seized some documents with regard to the money collected by letting out the conference hall. “There was misappropriation of rent collected through letting out the conference hall. We have examined some documents in this regard. Two former clerks of the college have misappropriated the funds. Our probe is on and we will take appropriate action against the duo,” said Puri vigilance deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Hara Narayan Pati.
The college principal, Sudarshan Behera, too admitted that two former clerks of the institution had misappropriated the money. “We have recovered Rs 1.85 lakh from the duo. The incident has been informed to the higher authorities,” Behera said.
It is worth mentioning here that RTI activist Batakrushna Pradhan had lodged a complaint with regard to the misappropriation of money with the Odisha Lokayukta. Subsequently, advocate Prasanna Dash had lodged a complaint in this regard with the Vigilance department superintendent of police (SP), Bhubaneswar.
While answering to an RTI query, the college authorities claimed that they had not let out the conference hall to any outside agency. However, it was subsequently found that the college authorities had let out the conference hall for the annual general body meeting of Puri-Nimapara Central Cooperative Bank for 2016-17. The bank authorities had paid Rs 10,000 as rent for using the conference hall, said the complaint.
Notably, the conference hall at the college was constructed during the Nabakalebara of Srimandir deities in 2015. The college authorities have been given the authority to manage the hall.