Raiganj, July 30 -- Allegations of financial irregularities in the office of the Block Development Officer (BDO) of Itahar sparked a political controversy after local BJP leaders lodged a complaint at the Itahar Police Station demanding an investigation into what they described as the submission of fake bills by a construction agency.

The BJP also forwarded copies of the complaint to the Superintendent of Police, Raiganj Police, and the District Magistrate of North Dinajpur, seeking a detailed audit of expenditure related to renovation work carried out at the BDO office.

Nimai Singha, a member of the North Dinajpur BJP committee, alleged: "Some bills submitted for renovation of the BDO office included several unrelated and fabricated expenses. We found that bills allegedly contained payments for a swing installed at the BDO's residence and the salary of a cook employed at the BDO's house. Rs 2.94 lakh allegedly spent on repairing a Trinamool Congress office at Chowrasta More, had also been included in the government renovation bill. We found around Rs 11 lakh amount of fake bills. We have urged the police and district administration to conduct a thorough audit of all works executed under the supervision of the BDO office and take appropriate legal action if irregularities are found."

Contractor Rintu Islam also levelled serious allegations against the BDO. He claimed that, following the officer's instructions, the agency paid the cook's salary for five months, worth around Rs 20,000, settled a beauty parlour bill and spent Rs 2.94 lakh on renovation of a TMC office. He alleged that the BDO had instructed the agency to include these personal expenditures in the government renovation bill and assured that payment would be cleared despite the absence of work orders.

Rejecting all allegations, Itahar BDO Dibyendu Sarkar said: "The agency had submitted bills without any valid work orders; therefore, payment was refused. The contractor is trying to malign my image by producing fake bills. This is a conspiracy against me."

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.