Bokaro: Giridih district police on Wednesday uncovered an organised racket that allegedly cheated rural farmers in the name of providing subsidies on agricultural machinery. Two persons have been arrested for posing as officials of the agriculture department and defrauding them over the past five years.During interrogation, the accused admitted to cheating over 100 farmers.DSP (headquarters) Neeraj Kumar Singh said, “The case came to light following a complaint filed by Amrit Kumar Verma, a resident of Pardih village on Jan 19. In his complaint, Verma claimed that he received a call from a mobile number promising agricultural machinery on subsidy, following which Rs 50,000 was fraudulently collected from him. Based on the complaint, a case was registered under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).”Acting on the directions of superintendent of police Vimal Kumar, a special investigation team was constituted, which conducted a raid at Khudisar village under Dumri police station and arrested Dharmendra Verma (29) and Sunil Verma (36).During questioning, the accused confessed to collecting names and mobile numbers of farmers from relatives, panchayat offices and notice boards of primary schools. They would then impersonate agriculture officials and lure farmers with offers of subsidies on irrigation pumps and other equipment, collecting money in advance, DSP further said.“Further investigation is under way to ascertain the total amount involved, identify additional victims and trace other members of the network,” said the DSP.
