Three officials of the Postal Service Department have been booked by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for fraudulently exchanging Rs.36 lakh from demonetised notes of Rs.500 and Rs.1000 to the newly introduced Rs.2,000 notes. The malfeasance, which took place on November 12, came to light after CBI officials raided the Himayathnagar post-office on November 24.
K Sudheer Babu, Senior Superintendent of Post Offices, Hyderabad City Division, G. Revathi, Sub-postmaster, Himayathnagar Sub-post office and G. Ravi Teja, office assistant, Hyderabad City Division and three unidentified government officials and private persons were booked by the CBI for misappropriating Rs.36 lakh instead of disbursing it among the general public.
Request slips
Based on the investigation by CBI officials, it was found that an amount of Rs. 74.73 lakh in the Rs. 2,000 currency notes were shown to have been exchanged against the old currency notes of Rs.500 and Rs.1000. However, only 987 request slips were found for just Rs.38.45 lakh against Rs.74.73 lakh, with the remainder of the Rs.36 lakh being unaccounted for.
Based on credible information, a joint surprise check was conducted by officials of the CBI and the Postal Vigilance Cell. It was found that Ms. Revathi and Mr. Teja committed the malfeasance on the instructions of Mr. Sudheer Babu. Mr. Teja revealed that the Superintendent gave him old currency notes of Rs. 500 and Rs.1,000 amounting to Rs. 36 lakh and took new notes of Rs. 2,000 of the same amount in return, at the GPO, Hyderabad’s treasury itself.
Residence searched
Searches were also conducted at the residence of Mr. Sudheer Babu as part of the investigation, said a press release on Monday from the CBI. When contacted, an official from the Postal Service Department said that no suspension orders were issued so far, and that the CBI was yet to correspond with the department. He added that raids were conducted at other sub post-offices in Hyderabad as well.
In case of any complaints of corruption in Central Government departments, banks, insurance companies and PSUs in the States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, people may contact 040-2473 2768 or 9010299553.
