Hyderabad, December 2 – A CBI special court has delivered a major verdict in a case involving embezzlement of over Rs 27 lakh at a post office during demonetisation. The court found two former employees of Humayun Nagar Sub-Post Office guilty and sentenced both to two years rigorous imprisonment along with a fine of Rs 65,000 each.
The convicted employees are Adapa Srinivas and U. Rajyalakshmi. During demonetisation, Srinivas held the position of Treasurer while Rajyalakshmi worked as a Postal Assistant. Just two days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the ban on old Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8, 2016, these two had begun their fraudulent activities.
Between November 10 and November 24, 2016, people came to the post office to exchange old notes. The duo took old notes from citizens without filling any forms or maintaining proper records, and did not give new notes in return. In total, they embezzled Rs 27,27,397. Later, they also manipulated accounts to try to cover up the entire matter.
The case came to light when the Senior Superintendent of Hyderabad Post Office detected irregularities and filed a complaint in 2017. The CBI registered the case on August 31, 2017. After a lengthy investigation, a chargesheet was filed against both on October 25, 2019. Following a six-year legal battle, the CBI court declared both guilty on December 1, 2025, and pronounced the sentence the next day on December 2.
The court considered this a serious crime involving fraud against the government treasury and betrayal of public trust. During demonetisation, several small and large scams surfaced across the country, but very few cases have resulted in convictions so far. This verdict could set a precedent for such cases.