Rs. 5.55 lakh deposit amount misappropriated at Post Office

Case registered against Postmaster

Talakad: An amount of Rs. 5.55 lakh deposited by the public has been misused by the staff of T. Bettahalli Post Office branch coming under Talakad Sub-Post Office limits and a case has been registered at Talakad Police Station.

The accused is 33-year-old S.S. Vasuki, who was working as a Postmaster at T. Bettahalli Post Office branch between Feb. 10, 2012 and July 1, 2022.

The incident of Vasuki misusing public money came to light when B.N. Shanthamallappa, a resident of Mudukuthore, who holds a Senior Citizen Savings Account, went to the Post Office on Aug. 4 to withdraw his money.

Details: One Chikkamadamma, a resident of T. Bettahalli village had given Rs. 25,000 to Vasuki to open a Term Deposit (TD) account on Dec. 9, 2020. But instead of opening the account in Chikkamadamma’s name, Vasuki had given the Recurring Deposit pass book thus misusing the money.

Also, Shanthamallappa, on July 1, 2021 had given Rs. 3 lakh and again on May 11, 2022 had given Rs. 1 lakh to Vasuki to open a Senior Citizen Savings Account. But Vasuki, who did not open the account in Shanthamallappa’s name, had reportedly given him a fake pass book.

This apart, one Komala of T. Bettahalli village, had given Rs. 50,000 to Vasuki on Apr. 30, 2021 to open a Savings Account. But Vasuki had allegedly shown only Rs. 500 in the account and had misused the remaining Rs. 49,500. Also, Rs. 30,000 deposited on Nov. 21, 2021 and Rs. 10,000 deposited on Apr. 9, 2022 by Komala has been misused. Overall, a total amount of Rs. 89,500 of Komala has been misused.

Vasuki has also misused Rs. 15,500 given by Nagamma of the village. While Vasuki has entered the amount in the pass book, she has not deposited the same in the Post Office account.

Meanwhile, T. Narasipur Sub-Division Postal Inspector S.N. Supriya has lodged a complaint at Talakad Police Station alleging that Vasuki has misappropriated Rs. 5.55 lakh public money and the Police, who have registered a case,  are investigating.