After allegedly embezzling funds meant for construction of toilets in villages, three mukhiyas have fled as police raided their houses at Potka block in the East Singhbhum district on Friday.

The mukhiyas Kapra Hansda, mukhiya of Shankarda Panchayat, Tarini Singh Sardar of Manshing Panchayat and Rukmini Murmu, mukhiya of Sangram Panchayat have been accused of misusing Government fund.

A police team, led by Potka police station OC, Ashok Ram, raided the houses of all the three mukhiyas, but the family members of the accused said that they are not at home. The police team had also carried out a search inside their houses.

"As per orders, we started search to arrest the mukhiya of three panchayat who are wanted in connection with a case of misappropriation of Government fund. The three accused, Tarini Singh Sardar, Kapra Hansda and Rukmini Murmu have absconded. We are trying our best to nab them and put them behind bars," said Ram.

In this connection, the police had registered a case in February this year on the FIR lodged with the Potka police station as the accused had misappropriated over Rs 70 lakh meant for providing about 600 toilets to the beneficiaries in Potka block.

An official of the administration said the State Government had released funds of over Rs 70 lakhs to the three mukhiyas for giving the money to the villagers for construction of toilets. The fund had been released by the DS&DW's Jamshedpur division and the authority concerned intimated the mukhiyas for producing the fund utilisation proofs, non of the three could produce.

After that, the DS&DW called a probe and had lodged an FIR against the three mukhiya with the Potka thana in February this year.