The luck of 14 employees of Jana Seva Kendras ran out on Monday when the Bolangir police arrested them on charges of withdrawing money to the tune of crores in the names of 7,000 farmers.
While addressing a press conference, Bolangir Superintendent of Police Rishikesh Khilari informed about the development.
According to the police, the district agricultural department somehow came to know that crop insurance worth crores was done in the name of fake farmers while using the documents of 7,000 farmers of Bolangri district.
In this regard, the agriculture department lodged a written complaint with the Bolangir cyber police station. Taking the compliant seriously, four teams comprising officers of cyber police and district police conducted raids at different locations and apprehended 14 persons for their alleged involvement in the crime.
During the investigation, the police seized laptops, computers and mobile phones from their possession.
“The district agricultural department had lodged an FIR with the cyber police station. They had submitted a list of suspected fraudulent transactions in the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). Our four teams conducted raids and apprehended 14 persons including operators and owners of Common Services Centres (CSCs). Of them, 13 are from Bolangir district and one from Kalahandi district. We will soon nab others involved in this case,” said the SP.
“From the possession of the accused arrested today, we seized four laptops, 16 mobile phones, a printer, 11 CPUs and some monitors,” he added.
The police official further added that the district administration will be informed about the arrest and asked to close the CSCs involved in the crime.