Odisha RBI officer held in fake certificate case

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Phulbani, Sep 5:

A RBI officer from Odisha’s Kandhamal district was today arrested and sent to jail on charges of producing a fake caste certificate to get his job.

The person identified as Prasant Kumar Pradhan (58) of Bastangia village was caught for the offence after 36 years of service.

Pradhan, who belongs to the scheduled caste (SC) managed to get an appointment as a typist in the RBI by producing a fake Sceduled Tribe (ST) certificate. Pradhan is presently working as an assistant manager with the RBI.

According to IIC Tikabali police station L N Tiwari, Pradhan was arrested under section 420, 468, 471 IPC on the basis of an FIR filed by Kandhamal District Welfare Officer (DWO) Paramananda Prusty.

DWO Prusty had filed the FIR after a state-level scrutiny committee, which is inquiring into cases where fake caste certificates have been used to get government jobs in the state, confirmed  that Pradhan had committed forgery.

Official sources said with Pradhan’s arrest the number of persons arrested in fake caste certificate cases in Kandhamal district in the last two years rose to 40.

Those who have been arrested for such offence include engineers, teachers, and members and former members of gram panchayats, the sources added.

Kui Samaj Samannaya Samiti, a Kandhamal-based tribal body has been demanding action against those who have availed benefits from the government by producing fake caste certificates.

The Kandhamal police have constituted a cell in the district to inquire and take action against persons accused of forging caste certificates, official sources said.

Fake caste certificate issue was one of the major issues that were raised during the 2008 communal riots in Kandhamal.