KOCHI: In a fresh development in the Kaloor Post Office scam, the Postal Department on Wednesday asked the District Collector to freeze the property of a female postal staff, accused in the misappropriation of funds to the tune of `30 lakh. Express had reported about the scam at the Kaloor Post Office on Wednesday. The Postal Department had earlier registered a case with the Ernakulam North police station in the issue. The accused, a postal assistant, had been in charge of handling the Savings Bank and Recurring Deposit accounts at the Kaloor Post Office. She allegedly misappropriated funds from nearly 500 schedules between 2006 and 2010.“She cleverly camouflaged her fraud during inspections and from the Post Master’s attention. None of the other postal officials and agents who had worked at the time were aware of it. It is learnt that she acquired some property using the embezzled funds. The department will take strict action against her. All transactions related to her accounts have been frozen,” said P Jayadevan, Senior Postal Superintendent, Aluva, who is holding the additional charge of the Ernakulam sub-division.He asserted that the customers need not worry about getting back their money. All the customers with proper records and passbooks having the departmental seal will be refunded their money. Other claims will be considered later. However he said that the refunding process will take time as the amount involved is a large one. “The department will ensure that all valid claims are refunded. As of now, the exact accounts from which the funds have been misappropriated are yet to be verified. An inquiry is being conducted into the matter. The results will be known soon,” he added. Meanwhile, the staff at Kaloor Post Office are planning to approach officials seeking police protection.
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