A police department accountant in Bokaro spent nearly two years withdrawing ₹3.15 crore from the treasury under the salary head of a retired sub-inspector — passing through multiple verification layers that apparently verify nothing — and routing the money straight into his wife's bank account. The scam was uncovered not by any of those verification layers, but by a local journalist.
Kaushal Kumar Pandey, an accountant in the Bokaro Police Department, achieved what every government employee dreams of: a second salary, except this one was ₹3.15 crore over two years. Between May 2024 and March 2026, Pandey allegedly withdrew funds from the district treasury under the salary head using the name of retired Sub-Inspector Upendra Singh, then helpfully routed the proceeds into the bank account of his wife, Anu Pandey — a paper trail so obvious it practically filed its own FIR. The scam passed through multiple verification layers at the treasury, each of which apparently functions with the vigilance of a sleeping security guard. It was finally exposed not by any of these institutional safeguards, but by a local media report on April 6, after which Treasury Officer Gulab Chand Oraon filed an FIR at B.S. City Police Station. Deputy Commissioner Ajay Nath Jha has demanded a detailed report within 24 hours and referred the matter to the state Finance Department, because if there's one thing that will fix a two-year fraud, it's a report with a deadline.