Jodhpur, April 28 -- The Special Court for CBI cases (Metropolitan) in Jodhpur on Monday convicted a former postal assistant for embezzling funds collectively worth Rs.16.89 lakh from recurring deposit accounts and sentenced him to five years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs.33 lakh. The court also acquitted an assistant postmaster of the charges due to lack of evidence. According to lawyers familiar with the proceedings, Mukesh Kumar embezzled funds from several RD accounts by manipulating relevant documents between 2009 and 2011, during his tenure as postal assistant at the Main Post Office in Hanumangarh Junction. The court observed that after account holders made legitimate withdrawals, Kumar forged forms with inflated withdrawals were made by altering records and then withdrew the excess amounts himself. However, the court also noted that the prosecution failed to substantiate charges that Kumar entered into a criminal conspiracy with others. Assistant postmaster Mahendra Singh Shekhawat was thus acquitted of all charges on that basis. Proceedings against the third accused, Satyaprakash Arora, were terminated after he died while the trial was ongoing. Presiding Officer Bhupendra Kumar Sanadhya found Kumar guilty under Sections 409, 467, and 471 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), as well as under Section 13(2) read with Section 13(1)(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. In case of non-payment of the fine imposed, he will have to undergo an additional year of rigourous imprisonment, said the court. The court also clarified in the verdict that Section 420 of the IPC (cheating) was not applicable in this case, as charges of both criminal breach of trust and cheating cannot be applied simultaneously based on a single transaction. The CBI had initiated an investigation into the matter in 2015 after receiving a complaint, and the chargesheet was filed in court in the same year....