AGRA: A fugitive postal official accused of embezzling over ₹2.67 crore in government funds was finally arrested after months on the run. The Tundla police’s painstaking pursuit exposes both the scale of small-town graft and the slow but deliberate machinery of justice.
A Sub-Postmaster’s Betrayal
The arrest of Ravi Prakash, a 35-year-old postal official, has drawn new attention to a quiet but costly case of government fund embezzlement in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad district.
According to the police, Prakash, who served as acting sub-postmaster at the Tundla Post Office, misappropriated ₹2.67 crore in government money between November 1, 2023, and April 19, 2024. The funds, officials said, were diverted from postal accounts and savings deposits — routine financial flows that rarely attract scrutiny unless something goes wrong.
The alleged crime came to light in March this year, when Ajay Dubey, the assistant superintendent of the Firozabad postal sub-division, filed a formal complaint. Following the complaint, Prakash was suspended from service. Soon afterward, he vanished.
The Long Trail to Tundla
The Tundla police began tracing Prakash’s movements soon after the case was registered. For months, he evaded capture, prompting authorities to escalate their pursuit. Non-bailable warrants were issued, and public proclamations under Section 82 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) were announced, officially designating him as an absconder.
“We had been tracking him for months,” said SHO Anjeesh Kumar. “He was finally caught while heading towards his residence after we received intelligence about his movement.”
Prakash was arrested near Jarauli cut on National Highway 19 following a joint police operation based on a tip-off. For investigators, it was the culmination of a long, quiet chase — one that stretched across several towns and relied on a network of informants.
Inside the Operation
Police officials say the operation required coordination between local units and district intelligence teams. The accused’s familiarity with postal procedures, and his access to internal systems, had initially made it difficult to trace where the funds had gone. DSP (Tundla) Amreesh Kumar said that investigators are now examining the possible involvement of another person.
“Additional sections have been invoked in the case. Legal action is being taken, and the accused has been sent to judicial custody,” he said.
The arrest, he added, may open further leads into how such a large sum was siphoned off from a small-town post office without immediate detection.
A Breach of Trust in a Trusted Institution
The case has been registered under Section 409 of the Indian Penal Code, which pertains to “criminal breach of trust by a public servant.” In small-town India, the local post office still represents one of the most trusted government institutions — a link between the state and ordinary citizens.
The breach of that trust, investigators say, goes beyond financial loss. It erodes faith in the postal system’s integrity — a network that handles pensions, rural savings, and subsidy transfers for millions. For now, the focus is on tracing the missing funds and uncovering whether Prakash acted alone.
