Nagarjuna Sagar: Rs 1.5 cr swindled at sub post office

Nagarjuna Sagar : A police probe revealed that the postman of the sub post office at Pylon Colony in Nandikonda Municipality fraudulently withdrew over Rs 1.5 crore from customers’ deposits. Perumala Ramakrishna, a native of Hazarugudem of Anumula mandal of Sagar constituency, was apprehended and produced in the court, according to Nagarjunasagar Circle CI Bisanna

The CI, following complaints from the public and postal officials, visited the post office on Wednesday and found out the modus operandi of the scam. Ramakrishna reportedly gave duplicate passbooks to the customers, but would deposit the money and enter wrong entries in the original passbooks with him. He even changed phone numbers to withdraw money illegally. Customers were not aware of the transactions as they did not get any messages on their phones.

The public is aghast how the officials of the postal department could keep blind to the scam of such a magnitude, involving hundreds of customers. The scam was perpetrated in a very short period of time. The people recalled that if anyone withdrew a small amount from an account, the officials would call up the passbook holders and confirm it from them.

The officials belatedly sensed something was amiss and after scrutiny placed Perumal under suspension on 17 December. After 10 days of suspension, he surrendered in the court.

History repeats

In November 2018, a sub-postmaster named Venkatachari absconded with Rs. 67 lakh from the same post office. He surrendered in the court as per the advice of his advocates. He spent all the loot on lawyers and court costs. Finally, he was sentenced to imprisonment and his assets were confiscated.