Police in Jalna district have arrested the eighth suspect in connection with a scheme that allegedly misappropriated about ₹24.90 crore of crop-loss subsidy funds meant for farmers.
The suspect, identified as an agriculture assistant who worked in the region’s relief-grant process, was arrested after investigators found that he had used forged documents and abused the official government computer system to benefit ineligible persons. The investigation pertains to relief funds distributed between 2022 and 2024 to farmers in the two tehsils of Ambad and Ghansawangi, following natural disasters that damaged crops.
According to official findings, the misuse included granting subsidies to people who did not own farmland, inflating land area, and sometimes issuing payments more than once to the same individual. The district-appointed committee, which audited the relevant compensation disbursements, had previously estimated that around ₹34.97 crore were misappropriated in the scam, affecting thousands of farmers.
Following the arrest of the eighth accused, local authorities are intensifying efforts to trace and retrieve the misused funds. Officials also plan to expand the investigation across additional villages and tehsils where irregularities were suspected.
Farmers’ rights groups and residents in affected areas have welcomed the recent enforcement actions but called for swift and transparent action so that genuine beneficiaries receive the relief aid due to them. Many said the scam had caused deep distrust in the relief-distribution process.
The administration has emphasized that only genuine farmers who suffered crop damage will now receive compensation, and it has tightened verification procedures to prevent misuse in future disbursements.
