Mysore/Mysuru: Following a major scam being unearthed at the Srirampura Town Panchayat, where Government money was siphoned off and transferred to the personal bank accounts of four to five employees, Project Director B. Shubha of the District Urban Development Cell (DUDC), who is in charge of all Urban Local Bodies, has submitted a report to Mysuru Deputy Commissioner Dr. K.V. Rajendra.

It may be recalled that on June 6, Star of Mysore had published a report titled  ‘Challan Scam Unearthed at Srirampura Town Panchayat,’ highlighting the scam.

It was Shubha, who detected the huge misappropriation during an inspection of the records a fortnight ago. She instructed Suresh, Town Panchayat Chief Officer, to submit a report after checking the cash ledgers and receipts and matching them with the money deposited in bank.

Based on the Chief Officer’s report, which highlighted the misappropriation of lakhs of rupees, Officer Shubha constituted an investigation team under Bannur Revenue Officer Basavaraju and Srirampura Town Panchayat First Division Assistant (FDA) Raghunandan.

In her three-page report to the DC, Shubha stated that since 2021, money collected in the form of taxes and other payments was transferred into the personal bank accounts of four to five employees instead of being deposited in the designated Town Panchayat bank account.

Duplicate and unauthorised challans were created to collect money in the form of property taxes and fees for Khata issuance and transfers. The report mentions the name of Namratha, an employee of Srirampura Town Panchayat and four others.

Confirming the receipt of the report, DC Dr. Rajendra told SOM that he would examine the report and also check with the Revenue Officer. “Action will be taken and criminal cases will be lodged against the employees if they have swindled public money. We will also have to examine if any outsiders are involved in the scam,” he said.