Three teachers embezzle ₹53L govt grant, booked

Rajkot: Three government teachers of Morbi were booked for allegedly embezzling Rs 53.15 lakh grant received for various education programmes on Saturday. Police said that the accused had deposited the money into bank accounts of their family members and relatives between 2017 and 2020.
The accused were identified as cluster resources centre (CRC) coordinator Abdul Sherisiya, assistant teachers Himanshu Patel and Arvind Parmar. While Patel is posted at Palas primary school, Parmar at Jhinjhuda primary school. All three were booked for criminal breach of trust by government official, forgery and criminal conspiracy.
According to a complaint filed by Pravinkumar Ambariya, the Morbi district primary education officer (DPEO), the financial irregularity was detected during an audit of accounts from 2017 to 2020. The complaint was registered with the Wankaner city police station on Saturday.
It was found that the trio, over three years, embezzled Rs 53.15 lakh by forging signatures on grant bills of various government schemes. At the time of executing the alleged offence, Parmar was posted as in-charge of accounts department of Wankaner taluka panchayat’s education branch. Co-accused Patel was in-charge of Right to Education (RTE) in the same office. Sherisiya was Wankaner CRC coordinator.
DPEO Ambariya stated in his complaint that the trio produced forged bills similar to government bills and got them approved by the designated officers. They also inflated rates in the bills and got them passed. The complaint stated that the accused deposited the money in the bank accounts of their spouse, parents or close relatives.
Police said that the accused are yet to be arrested.