Bhubaneswar: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a woman who had allegedly been absconding for 16 years in connection with a post office savings fraud case in Odisha.

The accused, Shabda Swain, a former Branch Postmaster of the Bonda Post Office in Odisha, was arrested by the CBI in Bargarh while she was attending a family function, officials said.

According to the allegations, Swain committed the financial irregularities between 2008 and 2014, when she was serving as Branch Postmaster at the Bonda Post Office. She allegedly misappropriated Rs 13,98,232 collected from depositors.

The accused allegedly failed to deposit the money collected from account holders into the government account and instead made false entries in their passbooks to conceal the alleged embezzlement.

The CBI, Anti-Corruption Branch (ACB), Bhubaneswar, had registered RC 17(A)/2014-BBS in connection with the case. After charges were framed against her on December 31, 2015, Swain allegedly remained absconding.

A non-bailable warrant (NBW) was issued against her in 2022.

Following sustained investigation and efforts to trace the accused over the years, the CBI finally located and arrested her in Bargarh, where she had travelled to attend a family event.

The arrest marks a significant development in the long-pending post office savings fraud case, which dates back more than a decade.