Pratapgarh (UP), Oct 27 (PTI) Police in Pratapgarh district of Uttar Pradesh have arrested three key suspects in connection with an alleged multi-crore rupee fraud involving the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme, a police official said on Tuesday.
Additional Superintendent of Police (East) Alok Kumar informed the media that the investigation has uncovered an inter-district gang. The arrested individuals have been identified as Shivkumar Yadav, Anurag Gupta, and Jitendra Kumar, all residents of Pratapgarh district.
Kumar said that Shivkumar Yadav worked as an operator at a Common Service Centre. He is accused of illegally collecting money from individuals ineligible for the scheme and entering their details directly into the portal.
The second accused, Anurag Gupta, who was employed as a contractual VRC operator in Kunda tehsil, is alleged to have leaked official government IDs and passwords, facilitating unauthorised entries into the scheme’s portal.
The third accused, Jitendra Kumar, acted as a network partner for the gang, facilitating the illicit transfer and laundering of funds obtained through fraud, Kumar said.
The ASP also shared that two laptops, five mobile phones, seven active SIM cards, a fingerprint scanner, and other evidence were recovered from the possession of the accused.
He added that the police are investigating the gang’s modus operandi and the roles of other individuals involved in the fraud.
Police have registered a case against the accused under the BNS and the IT Act.
The PM KISAN scheme is a central sector initiative that is fully funded by the Government of India. Under this scheme, an income support of Rs 6,000 per year is provided to all land-holding farmer families in three equal instalments. PTI COR NAV MPL
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