3 held for sub-treasury scam in Visakhapatnam

VISAKHAPATNAM: The Visakhapatnam rural police on Thursday arrested three government employees of the medical and sub-treasury departments for their alleged involvement in a Rs 5.3-crore fraud at the Chintapalli sub-treasury office and attached their properties worth Rs 3 crore.
Those arrested are Chintapalli sub-treasury office in-charge Keda Peda Appala Raju (43), Rani Chandramati Devi Hospital senior assistant Sagina Simhachalam (41) and Paderu Palla Sanjeeva Rao (50), senior assistant at the additional DM&HO office.Simhachalam previously worked as the in-charge senior assistant of Darakonda, Korukonda, Sapparla and mobile medical (MM) unit Pedavalasa PHCs.
According to the police, the accused, in connivance with others in the medical and sub-treasury departments, allegedly abused their official powers to produce fake primary health centres bills and withdrew money in the name of 300 PHC contract employees from the sub-treasury. The trio voluntarily surrendered before the central crime station DSP Krishna Varma on Thursday.
Addressing the media, Visakha Rural SP Koya Praveen said the scam came to light in November last year after the deputy director of the district treasury department lodged a complaint at the Chintapalli police station after unearthing irregularities in PHC bills during a surprise visit to the Chintapalli sub-treasury office.
The investigating officer and CCS DSP found that the officials at the additional DM&HO office at Paderu had withdrawn excess money from the directorate of public health and family medicine (PH&FM) at Hyderabad for salaries and arrears of contract employees of nine PHCs at Darakonda, Korukonda, Sapparala, Jerrella, Pedavalasa, Rajendrapalem, Tajangi, MM unit at Pedavalasa and Chintapalli.
All these PHCs and unit come under the jurisdiction of the Chintapalli sub-treasury office. As compared to the budgeted Rs 1.2 crore, the Paderu office received Rs 6 crore in 2012-13 and Rs 5 crore in 2013-14. Around Rs 3.6 crore was misappropriated in 2013-14 and around 1.7 crore in 2012-13, the Visakha Rural SP said.
He said the police was now probing the involvement of other officers and staff of the district treasury at Vizag, Chintapalli sub-treasury, additional DM&HO at Paderu, directorate of PH&FM at Hyderabad and the nine PHCs.
The cops attached properties and promissory notes worth more than Rs 60 lakh of K Peda Appala Raju, Rs 90 lakh worth properties of S Simhachalam and about Rs 1.3 crore properties of P Sanjeeva Rao.