CBI slams Postal officials over violation of RBI guidelines

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday registered a case against two officials of the Postal Department on account of undertaking fraudulent transactions.

A case was filed under Section 120 B r/w 420 and 406 of IPC and Section 13(2) r/w 13(1)(d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 against the former Post Master and Postal Assistant, both of the Saheed Nagar Post Office in Bhubaneswar, a Superintendent of Central Excise, six private persons and unknown others.

It was alleged that the Post Master and Postal Assistant abused their official position and fraudulently allowed cash deposits worth Rs. 36, 80,930 in the postal savings accounts of seven persons with Saheed Nagar Post Office on November 9, 2016, which was declared a non-business working day by the Postal Department after the demonetisation initiative was rolled out.

Searches were conducted at the office and residences of the accused including alleged depositors in and around Bhubaneswar, which led to the recovery of incriminating documents.

A bank locker key, documents related to various bank accounts and immovable property (a Duplex at Kalinga Nagar in Jajpur district and land / plots at Ugalapada and Patharagadia in Khorda district) and cash worth Rs. 4.4 lakh were recovered from the residence of one of the depositors, a Superintendent of Central Excise at Bhubaneswar.

The investigation is currently underway.