The Crime Branch-CID police on Tuesday night arrested two Assistant Agricultural Officers (AAO) of the Department of Agriculture for their alleged involvement in the PM-KISAN scheme scam.
The officials, Savithri and Asha, posted in Vallam block in Villupuram district, were produced before a local court in Villupuram and remanded in judicial custody. Both have been suspended by the Joint Director of Agriculture.
Police sources said that the two officials had reportedly shared their user IDs and passwords and facilitated the inclusion of non-farmers and ineligible beneficiaries under the scheme. The CB-CID police have already arrested 18 persons including two middlemen from Villupuram and Kallakurichi districts for their alleged involvement in the scam.
The middlemen, Shanmugam, 27 and Tamilarasan, 21 had included over 2,400 ineligible beneficiaries in the portal, making use of the user ID and password.
In Villupuram district, out of the total 90,000 ineligible beneficiaries, as many as 38,000 were from the district while, 60,000 were from other districts.
The district administration, with the help of banks and the Agriculture Department, has recovered ₹7.5 crore credited into the bank accounts of 25,000 ineligible beneficiaries so far.
