Indore: FIR against 4 sarpanches, 1 gram panchayat secy for financial irregularities

Indore (Madhya Pradesh) [India], October 21 (ANI): An FIR was registered against four sarpanches and gram panchayat secretary in the Indore district on Wednesday for allegedly carrying out manipulation in the stock registers, construction work and purchases in gram panchayats among other financial irregularities.
The accused have been identified as sarpanches Hari Parmar (Muradpura gram panchayat), Sikander Patel (Puwarda Happa gram panchayat), Krishna Gopal Panchal (Kankaria Bordia gram panchayat), Rinku Rahul Thakur (Jinda Kheda gram panchayat) and the gram panchayat secretary Ramprasad Rathore.
As per the information shared by police, action has been taken under the direction of Collector Manish Singh, who has said that the guilty sarpanches will be removed from their positions. Instructions to suspend the gram panchayat secretary have also been given by the collector.
After the formation of teams on the instructions of the collector, a lot of financial irregularities were found out in the aforementioned gram panchayats.
"In Muradpura gram panchayat, it was found out that purchases worth Rs 6,32,085 were made. Of these, sweets worth only Rs 60,810 have been purchased. Temporary bills were used for all the transactions. Purchases of miscellaneous items under Schedule Caste welfare were worth Rs 7,31,778 and another set of purchases worth 1,44,996 were made. Purchases of more than Rs 15 lakhs were made in total, in which most of the construction material was mainly purchased from a firm named Sandeep Traders, Dharampuri," stated the release by the police.
In Puwarda Happa gram panchayat, electronic goods, construction materials, etc. worth Rs 24,41,107 were purchased between 2019-21. Most of these purchases were made from firms that belong to the family members of sarpanch Sikander Patel. Apart from this, an amount of Rs 22,500 has been drawn in the name of Gabbar while he has not been appointed.
The release further said that purchases worth Rs 8,36,632 were made in Kankaria Bordia gram panchayat between 2019-21. According to a voucher dated 6 November 2020, Rs 12,670 were paid to Bhatia Arts, Sanwer for painting work, but the firm says that it only received a payment of Rs 1,100.
An amount worth Rs 36,43,880 was drawn in the gram panchayat Jinda Kheda for purchases of construction material and other materials between 2019-21. Most of the construction material was procured from Jeevan Traders, which is in the name of the son of gram panchayat secretary Ramprasad Rathore. However, the said firm has not been found.
Cases have been registered against the accused at Shipra, Sanwer and Chandravati Ganj police stations under sections 120B, 406, 407 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). (ANI)