15 arrested in pension scam in Chitrakoot

In a significant development in the Rs 43.13 crore treasury scam, police have arrested 11 pensioners and four middlemen involved in the large-scale financial fraud, officials confirmed here on Wednesday.

Reports said that following day-long questioning on Tuesday, all the accused were taken for medical examination at the district hospital and later produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), who sent them to judicial custody.

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Among those sent to jail are three women pensioners and four middlemen.

The middlemen allegedly acted as intermediaries, connecting pensioners with treasury officials and facilitating illegal transactions. Under the guise of “additional pension payments,” large sums of money were transferred into pensioners’ accounts and later shared among the conspirators.

The scam came to light during an audit, after which the Chief Treasury Officer filed a case against several officials, including deceased ledger clerk Sandeep Srivastava, Ashok Verma, ATO Vikas Singh Sachan, retired ATO Avadhesh Pratap Singh, and 93 pensioners.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by CO City Arvind Verma had been questioning multiple suspects.

On Tuesday, named treasury officials Vikas Singh Sachan and Ashok Verma were summoned to the Kotwali police station along with several pensioners.

Those arrested include pensioners Dhanpati Devi, Laxmi Devi, Kamla Devi, Santosh Mishra, Mohanlal (two residents from different villages), Jagat Narayan Tripathi, Durga Prasad, Ram Shiromani, Jawahar Lal, and Ramratan. The arrested middlemen are Omprakash, Amritlal alias Panchu, Mithlesh alias Bhola, and Gaurendra Shivhare.

According to ASP Satyapal Singh, all the accused were sent to jail after interrogation and medical formalities.

Interestingly, the entire scam was exposed due to the complaint of Kamla Devi, one of the arrested pensioners. When Rs 31 lakh were deposited into her account, the audit team questioned her and demanded the money’s return. She then approached Mau police, filing a complaint against her brother Omprakash, who had taken her bank account details under the pretext of transferring some funds and later withdrew the illicit money claiming it was his.

Subsequent investigations revealed fraudulent deposits totaling Rs 43.13 crore across 93 pension accounts.

Earlier, one of the main accused, ledger clerk Sandeep Srivastava, had died of a heart attack in Prayagraj shortly after being summoned for questioning.

The investigation continues, as police look into the roles of other treasury employees and beneficiaries involved in the scam.