Third arrest in GDZP salary scam, Vigilance Police books retired senior AO

GANGTOK,: Sikkim Vigilance Police (SVP) on Tuesday arrested one retired senior Accounts Officer-cum-Drawing and Disbursing Officer of the Gangtok District Zilla Panchayat (GDZP) on the charges of misappropriation of huge government funds.

“A search was conducted at the residence of the accused, and incriminating materials relevant to the investigation were seized. The accused is being held in custody for further investigation,” said the Sikkim Vigilance Police in a media statement.

Earlier, the SVP had arrested two accountants of the GDZP on the same charges.

“Acting on a written complaint received from the GDZP Sachiva, an FIR was registered at the Sikkim Vigilance Police station against the accused public servants, charging them with conspiracy, cheating, and forgery. It is alleged that during 2018-25, the accused officials, who were responsible for the preparation of monthly salary bills of the staff of GDZP, had dishonestly, wilfully, and illegally inflated their own salary bills regularly and forwarded to the bank a false and fabricated list of payees for the disbursement of monthly salaries. The inflated salary amounts were credited to the respective bank accounts of three accused officials,” said the Sikkim Vigilance Police.

It was alleged that the accused public servants continued to draw huge figures of salaries with apparent impunity, causing a deliberate and undue pecuniary loss to the government exchequer running into crores.

In its media statement, the Sikkim Vigilance Police said it remains steadfast in its commitment to uphold integrity, transparency, and probity in public administration. Citizens are encouraged to lodge their complaints or share any relevant information on corruption, misconduct, and malpractices in public works, involving public servants, in the office of Sikkim Vigilance Police, Secretariat Annexe I, Gangtok or email at dir.vlg-sik@sikkim.gov.in, the release mentions.