Ludhiana (Punjab), Jan 6 (PTI) Seven employees of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation have been booked for allegedly embezzling more than Rs 2 crore, police said on Saturday.

The alleged scam came to light after an audit of the municipal corporation's records revealed that more than Rs 2 crore was paid to 44 "ghost employees".

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The irregularities were detected during the audit of documents from April 1, 2022, to March 31, 2023.

A case has been registered against seven civic officials following a complaint from Municipal Commissioner Sandeep Rishi, the police said.

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Division Number-5 SHO Inspector Jagjit Singh, when contacted, said, "No arrest has been made so far. Most of the accused are from the accounts branch who transferred salaries and increments, among others, worth more than Rs 2 crore to the accounts of the alleged 'ghost employees'."

Rishi said he has suspended all seven officials, including two sanitary inspectors.

Most of the "ghost employees" are allegedly safai karmcharis who have no service record, the officials said.

Showcause notices are also being issued to some others, they added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)