Relief scam: Woman tehsildar who took part in Kaun Banega Crorepati arrested

A woman tehsildar who gained national fame as a participant in the popular television show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ was arrested from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh on Thursday for alleged involvement in a Rs 2.5 crore flood relief ‘scam’, officials said.

Amrita Singh Tomar was held in the 2021 ‘scam’ that took place in Baroda tehsil here, an official said, adding she has been lodged in a jail in neighbouring Shivpuri after being produced in court.

“A team led by Baroda Sub Divisional Officer of Police Avneet Sharma arrested Tomar from her home in Gwalior’s Chandravadni Naka. Tomar was the tehsildar of Vijaypur but was removed from the post by Collector Arpit Verma on Wednesday,” the official said. Tomar had applied earlier for anticipatory bail in the High Court as well as the Supreme Court but her appeals were rejected, he said. The official said 22 patwaris and one tehsildar have been arrested so far in the 2021 flood relief ‘scam’, which involves Rs 2.5 crore being allegedly transferred into fake bank accounts for the purpose of embezzlement.

Some 110 persons have been named in the FIR in the matter, he added. The case is being probed by the Baroda SDOP, said Superintendent of Police Sudhir Kumar Agarwal.” Tomar had been absent from her duties, and a police team subsequently traced her and arrested her in Gwalior,” the SP said.

Tomar had won Rs 50 lakh as a contestant in ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’.