Bizarre! Man Shown Dead 30 Times, Another 19 Times To Siphon Off ₹11 Crore In ‘Snake Bite Scam’ In Madhya Pradesh's Seoni
Seoni (Madhya Pradesh): After Spoon and Tar, a new and bizarre ‘Snake Bite Scam’ was reported from Madhya Pradesh’s Seoni district in which around ₹11.26 crore was extorted from the government's treasury.
In the case, fake death claims were filed repeatedly in Seoni's Keolari Tehsil using the names of 47 deceased individuals. These false claims were used to siphon off government compensation funds meant for snakebite victims.
A case has been registered regarding the matter against 46 individuals including Tehsildar and the Sub-District Magistrate (SDM).
One man was shown dead 30 times!
According to the investigations, the names of 47 deceased individuals were allegedly used repeatedly to file fake snakebite death claims.
For example, one man named Ramesh was shown as dead 30 times in different records, each time due to a snakebite. Another person, Ramkumar, was shown dead 19 times, and through 38 fake records, around ₹81 lakh was embezzled.
Using the same death records multiple times, fake compensation claims were submitted for crop loss and death benefits.
These records were edited repeatedly, and new bills were generated to transfer government funds into private accounts. The scam is said to have taken place from 2019 to 2022.
5 Tehsildar, SDM involved
The main accused, Sachin Dahayak, a Grade 3 Assistant, manipulated the state's financial management system (IFMS) with help from officials at the tehsil and district levels. Shockingly, bills were passed without any death certificates, police verification, or post-mortem reports.
A total of 46 others have been named in the case, including then-SDM Amit Singh and 5 tehsildars.
Investigators found that officials’ IDs were misused to create fake documents, which were then used to get payments approved at the treasury level. The main accused transferred funds into the accounts of his family members, friends, and close contacts.
The scam was uncovered by a special team from the Finance Department of the Jabalpur division.
Money transferred to private accounts, one arrested
Investigation officer and Joint Director Rohit Kaushal confirmed that the government money was diverted to private accounts instead of going to genuine beneficiaries.
The investigation report has now been submitted to the Seoni Collector for further action. So far, only one person, Sachin Dahayak, has been arrested.
No action has yet been taken against the remaining accused.
Jabalpur Division Investigating Officer - Joint Director (Finance), Rohit Kaushal, said, "The investigation clearly shows that fake death claims were used repeatedly to transfer government funds into private accounts. The report has been handed over to the Seoni Collector. The next steps will be taken by them."
Now all eyes are on how soon the authorities will act against the guilty and whether the embezzled public money will be recovered.
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