Gram pradhan, VDO booked for financial scam

PILIBHIT: A gram pradhan, Santosh Kumar, and village development officer (VDO) Ramveer of Saijana village, under Jahanabad police station, have been booked for misappropriating government funds to the tune of Rs 1.28 lakh on the pretext of carrying out development works.
The duo was booked on Sunday following an order of district magistrate Vaibhav Shrivastav.Last month, the DM had ordered assistant block development officer Veerandra Kumar to inquire into the matter. The latter confirmed misappropriation of gram nidhi fund.
In August, residents of Saijana village had filed a complaint before the DM, alleging that the pradhan and secretary had misappropriated the money.
Kamal Singh, SHO, said an FIR had been lodged against the two following a written complaint by the inquiry officer Kumar under IPC sections 420 (cheating and dishonesty), 120 B (criminal conspiracy), 467 (forgery of valuable security) and 409 (criminal breach of trust by government servant).