Fake Challan Scam: Government to act tough against errant staff
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Amaravati: Special chief secretary to government for revenue (registrations and stamps) Rajat Bhargava said the state government was conducting an inquiry into the fake challan scam and warned that serious action would be taken against the errant officials and document writers.
Addressing the media here on Saturday, the special chief secretary said an internal audit has revealed that some staff in the registrations and stamps department, in collusion with document writers, allegedly swindled the government to the tune of Rs 5.40 crore over the last one year.
While six sub-registrars have immediately been placed under suspension, a sum of Rs 1.37 crore has so far been recovered from the swindlers. "We have also registered 10 criminal cases against the department officials as well as the document writers. A detailed investigation is on while we are trying to recover the balance amount," he said.
The document writers and the department staff allegedly manipulated the software and shortchanged the government in payment of requisite registration fee through challans, a reconciliation of transactions has revealed.
More than 65 lakh documents have been verified so far to establish the quantum of the fraud. There is now a cloud of suspicion on several other sub-registrars and the department higher authorities as well as the police are investigating their activities, according to sources.
Once the investigation is completed, stern action will be initiated against the guilty officials and also the document writers. "People who got their registrations done through dubious means will also have to suffer the consequences," he said.
"We have now completely changed the software and brought in a new version, which will be fully operational across the state from Monday (August 16).
We have also integrated it with the National Informatics Centre and the Comprehensive Financial Management System (of the Finance Department) to ensure foolproof transactions of all registrations," Rajat said.