The Uttar Pradesh Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Sunday arrested a retired block development officer (BDO) for allegedly misappropriating funds under the Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana during his posting in Uttar Pradesh’s Ballia between 2002 and 2005.
According to the police, the accused, Dayaram Vishwakarma, was serving as the BDO of Bansdih block in Ballia at the time.
“He was arrested from near his residence in Varanasi. Dayaram had retired as the District Development Officer (DDO) in 2022,” said a police officer.
He is accused of misappropriating over Rs 27 lakh in government funds and food grains in collusion with others by using fraudulent and fabricated records, police said.
Under the Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana, the Central and State governments had sanctioned various development works — including road construction, drain construction, repair of pathways, link roads, and other work — in Bansdih block, partially funded by the area panchayat. However, these projects were either left incomplete or carried out substandardly.
“During investigation, fake muster rolls were found to have been prepared and food-grain rations meant for labourers were never distributed,” said a police officer.
A case was registered and later handed over to the Economic Offences Wing. Based on evidence collected, the role of 13 individuals was established. “So far, six people have been arrested in connection with the case,” the officer added.
