A constable of the Central Reserve Police Force Group Centre in Chandrayangutta of Old City was detained by the police on Saturday for allegedly embezzling nearly Rs. 62 lakh of its retired personnel’s money.
The accused constable U. Durga Prasad Rao had been working in the accounts wing of the Centre. Forty-five-year-old Rao had put in 20 years of service and his duties included collating the data of retired CRPF personnel and depositing money towards their retirement benefits and monthly pension in the bank.
The CRPF authorities prepare details of the retired employees and the amounts to be deposited in their respective accounts on a monthly basis.
Rao would enter the details in a CD and hand it over to the State Bank of India’s Barkas branch.
A single cheque for the entire amount would be given to the bank authorities who would withdraw money from the CRPF account and deposit it in the accounts mentioned in the CD.
Burnt fingers
“Rao wanted to earn money fast as he had burnt his fingers, having borrowed money from colleagues and invested it in different ventures,” Chandrayangutta Inspector A. Srinivasa Rao said.
To come out of debts, he hatched a plan and opened a joint bank account in his name and that of his wife.
Replaces names
“He began deleting names of some retired personnel from the CD and replaced them with that of his wife and transferred the pension money to their joint account,” the Inspector explained.
In this fashion, he misappropriated the retirement benefits and pensions of nearly 15 employees in the past one year.
The fraud came to light when one of them rang up the CRPF Commandant complaining that he didn’t receive money in his account.
A criminal case was registered again Rao on August 16 following a complaint lodged by CRPF officials.
