KIADB contract staffer misappropriates Rs 16.17 crore, arrested after fleeing from police station

BENGALURU: A contractual employee of the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board (KIADB) in Ballari, who had allegedly cheated the board of crores of rupees, fooled the police and escaped from the station while in police custody.

Santosh, who had committed fraud to the tune of a whopping Rs 16.17 crore, escaped from the APMC police station while in custody. The police searched frantically for him through the night and, within 24 hours of the escape, re-arrested the accused.

Santosh had misappropriated Rs 16.17 crore and as soon as the fraud came to light and a case was registered, he went absconding. The police conducted a continuous search and arrested the accused. Even after the arrest, he escaped from the station, throwing a challenge to the police.

The siphoning of funds was committed by a total of seven people, including Santosh and a manager at a private bank. Last month, an FIR was also registered against the seven people at Ballari APMC police station on March 3 this year. Santosh had forged officials’ signatures on cheques and siphoned off the money in phases from the KIADB account to other accounts between 2022 and 2026.

As per rules, cases of misuse of government money is to be transferred to the CID. Therefore, the APMC station police were supposed to arrest the accused, interrogate him, and hand him over to the CID. But before that, the entire big drama unfolded.