Balasore: In a bizarre incident, the ward members of Mathani panchayat in Basta block of Odisha’s Balasore district locked the panchayat executive officer (PEO) inside the panchayat office overnight on charges of embezzling funds meant to be paid as allowances to the ward members.
Tension prevails in the Mathani panchayat as the PEO Bhagwat Vashal is yet to be released by the ward members until this news is written.
According to reports, the ward members of Mathani panchayat were given allowances for five months instead of seven months. The PEO allegedly embezzled the funds allocated for paying allowances for the remaining two months. This led to a dispute and altercation in the panchayat office on Tuesday. As the situation deteriorated, the ward members of the panchayat locked the PEO in his office last evening demanding the pending allowances.
When contacted, Sarpanch Natabar Singh said that since there was no meeting of the panchayat committee in the last two months the ward members cannot demand the allowances.
