<![CDATA[Chennai: Sleuths of the Central Crime Branch (CCB) of the Kancheepuram police have arrested a panchayat secretary on charges of looting Rs 39.25 lakh by forging signatures. Police said the accused had over a period of time forged signatures and diverted the funds into his personal account. Senior officials who detected this scam lodged a complaint with the police on Monday following which Santosh Kumar, 45, was arrested on Tuesday. According to Police District Collector Mr. P Ponniah and a committee had found that there were discrepancies in the accounts and that signatures had been forged to embezzle the amount in the Pachambakkam village panchayat in Kancheepuram district. Further inquiries by the committee revealed that Santosh Kumar was responsible for diverting the funds. Bills for civic work such as road and pavement laying, as well as labour were forged by the official. Police told panchayat officials were tipped about the scam by another employee who had been warned by Santosh Kumar to keep it under wraps or risk losing his job. Police found that the money was routed to personal accounts of Santosh Kumar and his family members in various accounts in Kancheepuram, Cheyyur and Chennai. The money trail was also probed by the panchayat members before they lodged a complaint with the police. On being arrested and interrogated, Santosh Kumar confessed to the crime and spilled the beans on his modus operandi. Bank documents and statements were seized by police after his arrest. Police said the panchayat secretary had kept officials in the dark for more than a year. Santosh Kumar was remanded in judicial custody on Wednesday.]]>
