Postal official placed IPL bets with ₹1 crore deposited 20 customers, caught

BHOPAL/SAGAR: A postal department official in Madhya Pradesh has been arrested on charges that he spent money handed over customers for fixed deposit accounts on gambling, police said on Wednesday.Police said they started investigating sub-postmaster Vishal Ahirwar when some customers turned up at the post office to withdraw money but were told that there was no record of their deposits. As word spread, other customers also inquired about the deposits.So far, police have received 20 complaints about missing deposits worth ₹1 crore. Ahirwar was arrested on May 20 and remanded in police custody till May 26. He is accused of cheating and criminal breach of trust.Vishal Ahirwar, the sub-postmaster posted at Bajaria post office of Sagar drict’s Bina town, said: “A few days ago, nine consumers approached the post office to withdraw money from the time deposit but they didn’t find their record. They showed their passbook to the cashier and he informed them that no money has been deposited in their names.” When Ahirwar couldn’t explain the discrepancy, the customers approached the police. In the interrogation, police found that Ahirwar used the money to place bets on Indian Premier League (IPL) matches, said Dhurve.Ahirwar told the police that he intended to return the money once he won. But he kept losing money.Dhurve said he expected more people, mostly from the rural belt, to come forward to complain.When police checked with the postal department, it transpired that Ahirwar faced accusations of embezzlement of government funds when he was posted at the Khimlasa post office. But he was given a clean chit in an inquiry.The sub-postmaster Vishal Ahirwar was posted at Bajaria post office of Bina town of the drict and in the past two years, he duped at least 20 people.