Rs 17 crore fraud at Nanded tribal welfare office, 280 unauthorised cheques cashed

A major government funds scam has come to light at the office of the Integrated Tribal Development Project in Kinwat, Nanded district. An investigation found that Rs 16 crore 37 lakh 66 thousand 912 had been embezzled from the office. It is alleged that officers and staff of the office colluded to siphon off funds meant for the development of tribal people. A police case has been registered against the office's senior clerk, Bhagwan Uddhavrao Dawre, but people say it is not possible for a single employee to carry out a scam of this scale alone.

According to the police investigation, the fraud was carried out between April 1, 2024 and September 16, 2026, a period of about two and a half years. It is alleged that government funds, bank accounts and cheque register entries were manipulated to cash a total of 280 cheques without any official approval. The investigation also found that instead of being spent on government work, the money was transferred to the bank accounts of educated unemployed youths, minors, labourers, shopkeepers and other private individuals. About Rs 13 crore was withdrawn in the names of around 57 such people. It is alleged that, taking advantage of the fact that money from the central reserve fund is not returned, genuine signatures were obtained on some cheques while officers' signatures were forged on others to carry out the fraud.

During this three year period, three IAS officers, Meghna Kawli, Jinit Dontula and B. Saravanan, served as project officer in Kinwat. The question being raised is how, when cashing any large cheque requires the signatures of at least three or four responsible officers along with close scrutiny of bank accounts and signatures, these 280 cheques kept getting cleared for three years without being caught. Two government audits were also carried out during this period, and local people and tribal organisations are asking how this Rs 17 crore irregularity escaped the auditors' notice. It is being suspected that the transactions would not have been possible without the connivance of bank officers, and that registering a case against just one clerk is an attempt to shield senior officers.

The suspicious transactions came to light when B. Saravanan IAS, who took charge as project officer and sub-divisional magistrate in July 2026, examined the office's main account. Following this, under the supervision of district collector Rahul Kardile, a case was registered at the police station on the complaint of project office officer Premsing Babusing Aade. When questioned by the media about the case, project officer B. Saravanan refused to give any information, saying the matter was confidential and asking that he be left out of the office. Police inspector Jagdish Mandalwar is currently carrying out the further investigation, and all 280 transactions are being examined one by one. The scam is feared to widen further, and all of Nanded and Maharashtra is watching to see when senior officers are brought under police scrutiny.