11 Cr. scam: How 47 people died in a 280 times with 'snake bites'

Time of India

23-05-2025

In India, schemes like RBC 6(4) are meant to offer compassionate support, granting ₹4 lakh to the families of victims. However, when the same system that is built to aid the vulnerable is manipulated, the results are deeply disturbing.
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Sadly, instances of fraud and misuse of disaster compensation schemes are not rare. Fake deaths, forged documents, and bogus claims have crept into a process designed for human compassion. What makes these cases even more tragic is that the misuse not only drains public funds but also erodes public trust and makes it worse for the genuine victims, as scams like these also lead to the denial of rightful compensation to them.
Recently, the exposure of a scam in Madhya Pradesh's Seoni district is one such example that remained hidden in plain sight for many years. Shockingly, 47 people were declared dead 280 times in Madhya Pradesh's Seoni district between 2019 and 2022, and a natural disaster relief amount of ₹4 lakh was issued each time, amounting to a total scam of ₹11.26 crore.
The scam was exposed during an audit by the Revenue and Accounts Department in November 2022.
Rohit Singh Kaushal, the Investigation Officer from the Treasury and Accounts Department, confirmed the findings, saying, 'The relief amount is given to the kin of people who died of snake-bite or drowning. After investigation, we found that ₹11 crore 26 lakh has been misappropriated and sent to the accounts of 47 people,' as reported by India Today.
An example from the incident includes a woman named Dwarka Bai, who had died of a snake bite.
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She was declared dead 29 times, with relief amounts totalling ₹1.16 crore being disbursed in her name. Similarly, a man named Shri Ram was shown dead 28 times, with ₹4 lakh sanctioned each time.
The mastermind, Sachin Dahayat, a clerk at the Keolari Tehsil Office, reportedly manipulated 280 cases of death due to natural disasters and routed the funds into the accounts of relatives and acquaintances. He has since been dismissed from service and arrested, along with 20 others.
District Magistrate Sanskriti Jain said, 'Between 2019 and 2022, a clerk, Sachin Dahayat in Keolari tehsil had transferred money in many RBC 6(4) cases to other accounts. This was reported to be a scam of ₹11 crore 26 lakh, which was duly investigated.'
Legal action has also been recommended against SDM Amit Singh Bamroliya and four tehsildars posted in Keolari during the time the fraud occurred.
Authorities are still unsure whether many of the people declared dead are actually alive, as post-mortem reports and death certificates have not been submitted despite repeated requests.