Embassy gets Rs 10 lakh shock, electrician arrested

Charged mission for diesel that was never used

A 36-year-old electrician has been arrested for cheating the Palestine embassy of Rs 10 lakh by misusing funds allocated for generator fuel in the past nine months, police said on Thursday.

Jitender Kumar Paswan of RK Puram sector 7 was held after a complaint was filed with Chanakyapuri police station on Monday.

Jehad Al-Qedra, an official of the Palestine embassy, told police that Jitender cheated the embassy from September, 2012 to May.

“Being an electrician employed with the embassy, Jitender was having full access to the services and refuelling of the generator,” a police officer said.

The embassy claimed that Jitender misused funds given to him for refuelling the generator. “Almost Rs 10 lakh had been misused by him on the account of diesel,” Al-Qedra stated in the complaint.

On the basis of an internal probe, the embassy claimed that 240 litres of diesel were consumed by the generator per month, but Jitender charged money for 1,500 litres of diesel every month.

“It came to our notice very late that Jitender was cheating along with an employee of Gupta petrol pump in RK Puram sector 12,” the complaint added.

Jitender was questioned by the embassy staff before being handed over to police. On sustained interrogation, Jitender told police that he used to sell the extra diesel outside every month.

A case under section 408 (criminal breach of trust by clerk or servant) of the Indian Penal Code has been filed against Jitender over the embassy’s complaint.

Police have also questioned Vineet, an employee of the RK Puram sector 12 petrol pump. Jitender had approached Vineet to sell diesel purchased from the embassy’s funds. “Vineet has not been arrested and we are yet to recover the entire cheated money from Jitender,” the officer added.

Police are checking Jitender’s bank accounts to ascertain the money trail.