In a major breakthrough in the ₹43.13 crore treasury scam, police have arrested 11 pensioners and four middlemen linked to a large-scale financial fraud involving fake pension payments, officials confirmed on Wednesday.
According to reports, after day-long questioning on Tuesday, all 15 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.
Among those remanded are three women pensioners and four middlemen, who allegedly acted as intermediaries between pensioners and treasury officials, facilitating illegal fund transfers. Under the pretext of “additional pension payments,” large sums were credited to pensioners’ accounts and later shared among conspirators.
The scam surfaced during an audit, prompting the Chief Treasury Officer to file a case against several officials, including deceased ledger clerk Sandeep Srivastava, Ashok Verma, Assistant Treasury Officer (ATO) Vikas Singh Sachan, retired ATO Avadhesh Pratap Singh, and 93 pensioners.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by CO City Arvind Verma has been interrogating several suspects. On Tuesday, treasury officials Vikas Singh Sachan and Ashok Verma were summoned to the Kotwali police station along with multiple pensioners.
Those arrested include pensioners Dhanpati Devi, Laxmi Devi, Kamla Devi, Santosh Mishra, Mohanlal (two persons 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.
ASP Satyapal Singh said all the accused were sent to jail after interrogation and medical formalities.
Interestingly, the scam was exposed through the complaint of Kamla Devi, one of the arrested pensioners. When Rs31 lakh was deposited into her account, the audit team demanded an explanation. Kamla Devi then approached Mau police, alleging that her brother Omprakash—one of the middlemen—had misused her bank details to siphon the funds.
Subsequent investigation uncovered fraudulent deposits totaling Rs43.13 crore across 93 pension accounts.
Earlier, a key accused, ledger clerk Sandeep Srivastava, died of a heart attack in Prayagraj soon after being summoned for questioning.
The investigation is ongoing, with police scrutinizing the roles of additional treasury employees and beneficiaries linked to the massive fraud.
