Kolkata, Aug 9 (IANS): The Kolkata Police has arrested a central government employee on charges of fund defalcation at the iconic Victoria Memorial Hall.

Swapan Kumar De was working as a clerk in charge of handling the cash collected from the sale of tickets from visitors to this memorial.

He was produced at a lower court in Kolkata and remanded to police custody till August 20, 2022.

On checking the accounts, the curator of Victoria memorial came across some major discrepancies. Further investigation revealed that the siphoning of funds ranged to the tune of Rs 12 lakhs. Soon after the curator noticed the siphoning of funds, Dey stopped coming to the office.

The curator then informed the police and accordingly, Dey was arrested from his residence at Tollygunge in south Kolkata.

Preliminary investigation has revealed that the arrested person had incurred huge debts in the market which prompted him to commit the siphoning after serving in that post for around 20 years.

The police are trying to investigate whether the siphoning was committed by Dey alone or he had someone helping him.

Also, the accounts department of Victoria Memorial are trying to locate the exact amount of money siphoned off.