Ferozepur, December 3

As many as 11 persons, including four officials of the Education Department, have been booked in connection with the embezzlement of funds of Rs 1.5 crore which were earmarked for development works. These were allegedly siphoned off into personal accounts of the officials during the course of three years.

The police have booked Guruharsahai Block-I BPEO (Block Primary Education Officer) Gurmeet Singh along with other employees identified as Chararnjit Singh, Mohinder Pal, Rakesh Kumar, besides seven other under Sections 420, 465, 467, 468, 471, 409, 120-B IPC and Section 13 of the PC Act 1988 following a complaint lodged by DEO (District Education Officer), (Elementary) Satish Kumar.

After getting the whiff of the impending action, three of the accused officials are reportedly not coming to office since the ‘scandal’ surfaced in May. Earlier, the preliminary investigation of the department had indicated that the money was transferred into accounts of acquaintances of the officials and even relatives in some case.

As per the department findings in a report, the funds were allocated for developmental works, including procurement of flat panels, projectors, furniture, besides the construction of classrooms and upgrading of school infrastructure.

The total sum involved in the fraud has been put at Rs 1.51 crore.

The money trail showed that at least Rs 1.44 crore had been transferred into the bank accounts of certain staff members.

After confirming the findings in a follow-up enquiry in July 2023, the department referred the matter to the police and even sought the arrest of the erring officials.