In the Seoni area of Madhya Pradesh, 47 persons were proclaimed dead 280 times in a peculiar event, and each time a natural disaster relief payment of Rs 4 lakh was approved, leading to a total corruption of Rs 11 crore 26 lakh.
Following a Revenue and Accounts department inquiry, the instances were discovered, and 37 individuals have been charged in the matter. The mastermind is among the twenty-one individuals who have already been taken into custody. For instance, authorities declared Dwarka Bai, a woman who died from a snake bite, dead 29 times. Every time, a relief payment of Rs 4 lakh was authorised in her name, resulting in the disbursement of Rs 1 crore 16 lakh.
The same was true for Shri Ram, who was proclaimed dead 28 times and each time received a relief payment of Rs 4 lakh. The revenue department audit in November 2022 exposed the theft occurrences that occurred between 2019 and 2022. “The relief amount is given to the kin of people who died of snake-bite or drowning. After investigation, we found that Rs 11 crore 26 Lakh has been misappropriated and sent to the accounts of 47 people,” said Rohit Singh Kaushal, Investigation Officer, Treasury and Accounts Department. “It is still unknown whether the people against whose names the amounts were sanctioned using fake documents are actually dead or alive as post-mortem reports and death certificates have not been provided despite repeated requests. We have sent the investigation report to the government and the Seoni collector,” he added.
Sachin Dahayat, a clerk in Keolari’s Tehsil Office, was convicted of the theft over the course of the investigation. By presenting proof of their deaths from lightning strikes, drownings, and snake bites, he allegedly obtained the sanctioned sum in the names of 280 people and transferred it to his friends’ and family’s bank accounts. Legal action against SDM Amit Singh Bamroliya and four tehsildars stationed in Keolari between 2019 and 2022 has also been suggested in the probe report.
“Between the years 2019 and 2022, a clerk, Sachin Dahayat in Keolari tehsil had transferred money in many RBC 64 cases to other accounts. This was reported to be a scam of 11 crore 26 lakhs, which was duly investigated. An investigation report has been submitted by the Finance Department now,” said Sanskriti Jain, District Magistrate of Seoni. Sachin has been dismissed from service and is among the 21 people arrested so far in this case.
