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LUCKNOW: It started out as a perfect scam but it was too much perfection that raised suspicions.

Four employees of Lucknow Development Authority ( LDA ) at Kanshi Ram Smarak are facing action for skipping duty by using artificial thumbs made of plaster of Paris in the biometric attendance system.

The scam, which was on for three years, included their supervisor too.

The biometric attendance system was launched in July 2016. Soon after, employees Munendra Pal, Deep Chand and Umashankar Chauhan, along with managing head Rakesh Nishad, were found to be coming late for work and often not reporting at all. As a result, their salaries were deducted.

After the action, all four became regular. They reported on time and did not take leave for two and a half years—from December 2016 to August 2019. This raised suspicion in the mind of officials who conducted an inspection and were shocked to find that the employees were being marked present in the system despite being absent.

LDA vice chairman PN Singh directed chief engineer Indu Shekhar Singh to investigate and he found three artificial thumbs made of plaster of Paris in the office of Nishad.

“The employees then revealed that artificial thumbs had impressions similar to original thumbs of employees and were used to mark attendance. One of the accused employees would come for work on rotation basis and mark attendance of all with artificial thumbs,” said the LDA VC.

The employees have submitted apology letters but a chargesheet against them has been filed.

“We got artificial thumbs made from a painter in Nakhas for Rs 300 each,” said Pal.

The employees had distributed days among themselves to report on duty and mark others present, said Chand.

