Pune: India Post employees booked for siphoning over Rs 22 lakh

Six employees of India Post in Pune have been accused of committing offences for allegedly embezzling over Rs 22 lakh from investments made in term deposits (TD) and the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojna, police said on Saturday.

Three cases were registered on Friday against employees of the Dunkirk Lines sub-post office, Dighi Camp sub-post office, and Viman Nagar sub-post office in the city, and no arrests have been made in these cases so far an official said.

The fraud occurred at the Dighi Camp sub-post office between July 2018 and August 2020, the official said.

A total of 274 individuals had invested Rs 9.62 crore in the TD scheme. However, four officials reportedly embezzled the agent's commission, worth Rs 18 lakh, from the deposits and divided it among themselves.

Similarly, Rs 2.47 crore were collected from 59 depositors at the Dunkirk Line sub-post office under the TD scheme, of which Rs 4.95 lakh were siphoned off, the official said.

According to the report, the deputy postmaster of the Viman Nagar sub-post office has been accused of not maintaining records of 19 individuals who invested Rs 45,000 in the Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana. This has led to the filing of a third case against the deputy postmaster.

The official mentioned that the accused individuals have been charged with various relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including cheating (Section 420), forgery (Section 468), criminal breach of trust by a clerk or servant (Section 408), and others. Cases have been registered against them under these sections.