Sasaram Municipal Council chairperson arrested | Patna News

SASARAM: The Sasaram Municipal Council chairperson, Kanchan Devi, was arrested from her relative’s house at Chandravanshi Nagar area in the town on Friday.
Kanchan, along with former executive officer Kumari Himani and junior engineer Arun Singh, was wanted in connection with embezzlement of funds to the tune of Rs55 lakh in three cases.
Rohtas SP Ashish Bharati said the remaining two accused would be arrested soon. He said three separate named FIRs were lodged between August 2020 and March 2021 with the Town police station by the assistant engineer of Bihar Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation (BUIDCo), Jeetendra Singh, for fraudulently withdrawing Rs55 lakh in December 2019 -2020 in the name of construction of PCC roads in many wards under the jurisdiction of the civic body. However, an on-the-spot inquiry by a team of district administration did not find existence of any PCC road on the earmarked stretch. The inquiry report stated that even locals denied any road construction work in the area during the last three years.
It was on the inquiry report that the DM had ordered to lodge FIRs against the trio.
“The inquiry found the allegations against the three accused true and arrest orders were issued against them in April. But the chairperson and assistant engineer went into hiding. The third accused, Kumari Himani, would be arrested soon,” the SP said.
Kanchan is the second female chairperson to be arrested in embezzlement cases in the state within the last five years. In 2016, the then sitting chairperson Naziya Begum was also arrested. Nazia and two ward councillors were arrested by the vigilance department in connection with embezzlement of funds to the tune of Rs5 crore meant for installation of street lights in Sasaram town.