Embezzlement in PM's office from past 2 yrs

New Delhi, Jan 24: Story of another Ramalinga Raju in Prime Minister's Office. A 28-year-old accountant, Vikas Rana, working in PM's office has diverted lakhs of rupees from salary section of Prime Minister's Office (PMO) by forging signatures for two long years. The suspect diverted salaries of four senior officials who had joined the PMO on deputation two years ago, but returned to their parent cadre. The salary section continued to disburse their salaries.

Police said for two years, the accused kept drawing salary against their names and transferred it to his personal account.

Police are investigating to find out a senior official's role who has helped the 28 year old in embezzlement. Vikas Rana, is posted as an upper division clerk at the accounts section of the PMO. "The accused kept on receiving their salary through fictitious signatures and transferred them to his personal bank account," said a source.

A case under various sections of forgery, cheating, impersonation, embezzlement of funds and criminal conspiracy has been registered against the accused at the Parliament Street Police Station (FIR-4/09). The case was registered on the complaint of Salil Kumar, the undersecretary posted with the accounts department of the PMO. The scam was unearthed accidentally by Rana's colleague.

"Rana was on leave for a day and one of his colleagues was sitting at his workstation. The colleague opened an account and stumbled upon the fraud. When he started checking, he saw that the embezzlement had been going on for the past two years. He complained to his superiors and the matter was reported to the police," said the source.

"The administration department must be aware of it, I am not aware about the matter," said Deepak Sandhu, media advisor to the Prime Minister of India. Police said four senior officials against whose names he was diverting the salaries had left the PMO in 2006.

"We are also probing the role of Rana's seniors who may have been involved. Rana would be arrested soon," said the source.

OneIndia News (With inputs from Agencies)