Under the Pradhan Mantri-Kisan Samman Nidhi (PM KISAN) scheme, 580 fake accounts of non-farmer beneficiaries were detected and ₹11 lakh recovered so far in the district. After the scam was unearthed in many districts in the State, officials here began verifying the applications and found 580 fake accounts. The money was recovered and the accounts were frozen.
Collector C. Kathiravan said that all the applications received were being scrutinised and the exact number of fake beneficiaries will be known soon.
Sources said a total of 85,000 applications were received in the district and they suspect irregularities in 7,000 applications that were mostly submitted through browsing centres and e-service centres. “Most of these applications were submitted at the last hour”, an official said.
The Crime Branch CID police arrested one person in Salem in connection with the scam on Thursday.
