Thrissur: A former district industrial development officer has been dismissed from service for allegedly misappropriating government funds to the tune of Rs 19 lakh.
The former officer, Bindu, from Adoor in Pathanamthitta, had served as industrial development officer in Thrissur and later industrial extension officer in the Industries Centre in Vadakara. The 47-year-old woman had previously been remanded after getting arrested in the same corruption case. The director of the industries department handed over the dismissal order to Bindu on Friday.
Bindu had reportedly been earlier hand-picked by the CPM for taking over the administration of the Indian Coffee House outlets, while she was serving as liquidator in the District Industries Centre in Thrissur.
Subsequently, she was charged with misappropriating Rs 19 lakh of public money to her private accounts while holding the post of liquidator in the Thrissur Town Women's Industrial Cooperative Society.
About Rs 22.8 lakh was initially deposited in the bank account in the name of the liquidator at the Ayyanthole branch of the State Bank of India. This sum was the proceeds from the sale of the land belonging to the Thrissur Town Women's Industrial Centre to the Thrissur Corporation. Bindu was found to have transferred this amount into the personal accounts of herself and her husband through transactions at various times.
At the time of the departmental enquiry, only Rs 2.97 lakh had remained in the liquidator's bank account. This led to the Industries and Commerce Director serving show-cause notice to Bindu. She was also suspended from service.
In a controversial move, Bindu was reinstated in service through minister-level intervention, without any recovery of the siphoned-off funds. Also, the departmental action against the officer was limited to a transfer to the Kozhikode district. However, the subsequent arrest led to Bindu getting suspended again. Allegations had also been made against Bindu when she was in charge of the Coffee House.