10 cases booked in fake challan scam, says official

Over 700 documents with major discrepancies unearthed so far

Special Chief Secretary of Revenue (Registration) Department Rajat Bhargava has said the State exchequer was found to be robbed of nearly ₹5.43 crore through fake challans submitted in the Sub-Registrar Offices (SROs) as on August 13 and a sum of ₹1.37 crore has been recovered. The highest amount swindled by officers and employees in collusion with document writers was ₹3.81 crore in the purview of the Deputy Inspector General of Registration and Stamps, Vijayawada, of which about ₹72 lakh has been recovered. The second highest loss was ₹1.09 crore in Kadapa and ₹19.60 lakh has been recovered. Mr. Bhargava told media persons here on Saturday that 10 criminal cases were booked in nine districts and an inquiry was on to expose the true magnitude of the scam. More than 65 lakh documents were being scrutinised and so far over 700 documents were found to have major discrepancies that led to the financial loss.