Odisha Police arrests fraudster for swindling ₹3.5cr of farmers’ subsidy

Rs1.92 crores lying in different bank accounts of the two accused and their firms have been frozen by the Odisha police.

Updated on: Jun 24, 2021, 12:58:46 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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The economic offences wing of Odisha’s crime investigation department (CID) arrested a seller of paddy transplanting machines on Thursday for cheating the government treasury of around ₹3.5 crore by falsely claiming to have sold the mechanised machines and pocketed the subsidy meant for genuine farmers.

The accused used to upload photos of paddy transplanters and of fake beneficiaries to fraudulently corner the subsidy given by the government. (Sourced Photo)

The EOW officials said one Kamaljeet Singh of Bargarh and his brother Harpal Singh used to upload fake engine/chassis numbers and photos of paddy transplanters-a machine used for paddy farming- and of fake beneficiaries to fraudulently corner the subsidy given by the state’s agriculture department.

“Between 2018 and 2020, the duo used to make gullible farmers pose with paddy transplanters and take away the subsidy amount ranging between ₹1 and 1.5 lakh, which was credited to the beneficiary farmers’ account, after giving them anything between ₹3,000 and 5,000. The total subsidy swindled in this manner amounted to ₹3.49 crore,” said JN Pankaj, deputy inspector general of the wing.

Kamaljeet Singh was arrested following a complaint by Rigin Bennet, manager of Redlands Ashlyn Motors PLC- a company that sells the mechanised machines in Kerala’s Thrissur. Harpal is yet to be arrested. The duo falsely claimed to have sold 278 machines in the company’s name to farmers of western Odisha districts of Bolangir, Sambalpur, Bargarh and Sonepur.

An amount of Rs1.92 crores in different bank accounts of the two accused and their firms has been frozen.

In March this year, an MLA of ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Sudhanshu Sekhar Parida faced similar accusations of siphoning subsidy amount meant for purchase of farm equipment. A complaint was filed before Odisha Lokayukta alleging the MLA had embezzled ₹6 lakh subsidy claiming to have purchased paddy harvesters.

Paddy seedlings grown in a mat nursery are transplanted using a self-propelled machine. While manual paddy transplanting requires 8-12 labourers for one acre, a self-propelled rice transplanter covers four acres in a day by engaging only three people.

Odisha government has been offering subsidy to encourage mechanisation of farming

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More