Man arrested for unaccounted transfer of ₹7.31 lakh from Thodupuzha Municipality
A CPI leader, Shekhar Ramji, was arrested after attempting to return ₹7.31 lakh that was fraudulently transferred from a municipality's account. Investigations are ongoing.
A CPI leader, Shekhar Ramji, was arrested after attempting to return ₹7.31 lakh that was fraudulently transferred from a municipality's account. Investigations are ongoing.
A CPI leader, Shekhar Ramji, was arrested after attempting to return ₹7.31 lakh that was fraudulently transferred from a municipality's account. Investigations are ongoing.
Thodupuzha: The Thodupuzha Police have arrested a man in connection with the fraudulent transfer of ₹7.31 lakhs from the Thodupuzha Municipality's account to a private individual's account without valid documentation. The arrested person has been identified as Shekhar Ramji (36), a native of Chinnakanal.
The arrest unfolded when Ramji contacted the Municipal Secretary over the phone, offering to return the money. The Secretary instructed him to come to Thodupuzha to make the payment and alerted the police. Upon his arrival at the municipal office yesterday afternoon, law enforcement officers took him into custody. Ramji, a CPI leader, previously served as the ward member for Venad in Chinnakanal Panchayat from 2015 to 2020, and as its Vice President during 2019–20. Police are currently interrogating him to delve deeper into the case.
The probe was launched following an official complaint filed by Municipal Chairperson Sabira Jaleel. Both the Thodupuzha Police and the Internal Vigilance wing of the Local Self-Government Department (LSGD) are conducting parallel investigations into the financial misappropriation.
The scam came to light during an audit conducted by the newly appointed Municipal Secretary. Investigations revealed that the funds were withdrawn using a cheque signed by the Senior Accountant and the then-Secretary-in-charge. However, no supporting files or transaction records are available at the municipality. The former Secretary-in-charge, Jose, who signed the cheque, was subsequently arrested by the Vigilance Department in an unrelated bribery case, while the accused Senior Accountant has since retired from service.
The fraud reportedly took place last February. According to findings, the retired accountant transferred the funds—drawn from a Clean Kerala project account maintained at the Thodupuzha Union Bank branch since 2010—to a private ESAF bank account in Chinnakanal. Although the project was later brought under the Suchitwa Mission with substantial funding, the stagnant account was exploited to carry out the illegal transfer.
The discrepancy was discovered during routine account verification for the preparation of the Annual Finance Statement (AFS) for March, prompting the Secretary to report the incident to the municipal council. The municipality subsequently issued a letter to the bank requesting a freeze on the private account while seeking full transaction details of the cheque.