Bhubaneswar: A former Post Master in Odisha was sentenced to four years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) for duping four account holders of over Rs 19 lakh around a decade ago.

A Special CBI court in the capital city here today sentenced Sangarm Keshari Behera, the former Post Master (Grade-I) of Kujanga Sub-Post office in Jagatsinghpur district, to four years of RI after convicting him in the duping case.  

The court also slapped a penalty of Rs 55,000 on the convict.

As per the case records, Behera had duped four Senior Citizen Saving Scheme (SCSS) account holders during his tenure as the Post Master of Kujanga Sub-Post office.

Behera had misappropriated Rs 19.81 lakh from the accounts of the four persons by forging their signatures between September 12, 2011 and August 8, 2013.

He had fraudulently closed the four accounts after withdrawing the total amounts. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had registered a case against Behera on September 17, 2013.

After thorough investigation, a chargesheet had been filed against Behera on March 28, 2014.