Ex-sarpanch among six booked for ₹30 lakh fraud in Karnal

The accused were identified as gram sachiv Jitender Wadhva, sarpanch Suresh Kumar and his relatives Ashok, Rampal, Pinky Rani and Dinesh Kumar

Police booked a former sarpanch of Garhpur Tapu village and five others for allegedly defrauding the government of ₹29.41 lakh by making fake registration of paddy crop on Meri Fasal Mera Byora (MFMB) portal.

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The accused were identified as gram sachiv Jitender Wadhva, sarpanch Suresh Kumar and his relatives Ashok, Rampal, Pinky Rani and Dinesh Kumar.

The case was registered following an information shared by the criminal investigation department (CID) to the chief minister’s flying squad that carried out a preliminary probe and later submitted its complaint alleging that the crop was grown on paper and sold on paper only, where the sarpanch got it registered in the names of his brothers and nephews to commit the fraud in collusion with the village secretary, mandi labor contractors, commission agents and farmers.

The Shamlat land which was registered on the portal is a disputed land and a case regarding this is in the Supreme Court. According to the officials, the land concerned cannot be registered.

The squad said Haryana State Warehousing Corporation then purchased the crop worth ₹29.41 lakh and the government also paid commission and labour charges.

Police said a case under Section 420,467,468,471,120B of the Indian Penal Code was registered at Indri police station and a probe has been initiated.