Discom Official in Madhya Pradesh Charged for Embezzling Bill Payments
- KC Kamaria, a former assistant engineer, misappropriated Rs 1.80 crore from electricity bill payments between 2011 and 2013.
- He falsified records, claiming consumers had died or migrated, allowing him to keep the payments.
- The EOW has registered a case after a decade, highlighting the need for better oversight in public utility services.
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) has initiated a case against KC Kamaria, a former assistant engineer of the west discom, who was stationed at the Rampura distribution centre in Mansa, Madhya Pradesh, from 2011 to 2013. Over this two-year period, Kamaria allegedly misappropriated funds from electricity bill payments made by consumers, amounting to Rs 1.80 crore from 929 individuals. The case was registered a decade after the discom lodged a complaint, highlighting significant delays in the investigation process. During the preliminary investigation, it was discovered that Kamaria had manipulated official records to justify the non-payment of bills. He falsely reported that consumers had either died, migrated, or had their homes collapse, which allowed him to pocket the payments without depositing them into the state treasury. The investigation scrutinized 500 cases, revealing 65 instances of financial misconduct, where Rs 13.94 lakh was siphoned off. The discrepancies in Kamaria's reports were alarming; in several cases, consumers he claimed were deceased were found to be alive, and homes he reported as collapsed were in good condition. This pattern of deceit raises serious concerns about the integrity of the discom's operations and the oversight mechanisms in place. The police have now registered the case and are actively pursuing the investigation. This incident underscores the need for stringent checks and balances within public utility services to prevent such embezzlement and ensure accountability for public funds.