Son booked for ₹44 lakh pension fraud after keeping deceased mother ‘alive’ on paper for 7 years in Meerut

A pension scam exceeding ₹44 lakh has been uncovered in the Daurala region of Meerut district of Uttar Pradesh, where a deceased woman was allegedly shown as "alive" in public records by her son to illicitly collect financial benefits for years, the Times of India reported.

According to a formal grievance sent to the Sardhana sub-divisional magistrate on October 8, 2025, State Bank of India (Sakauti Tanda branch) manager Neeraj Kumar said that a retirement account existed for Shanti Devi, spouse of Surjan Singh, a freedom fighter. She received payments from both freedom fighter and military pension programs.

Neighbors claimed that Shanti Devi passed away on December 9, 2018.

Authorities stated her son, Prem Singh, alongside unnamed co-conspirators, purportedly created fraudulent records and kept providing forged life certificates to the institution, deceptively suggesting she remained alive.

Utilizing these papers, the suspects allegedly kept managing the account and extracted money via ATM and digital UPI transfers.

Bank representatives confirmed that a sum of ₹44,38,096 was taken from the account throughout a seven-year span.

Consequently, the bank filed a complaint at the Daurala police station on November 27, 2025.

Since no prompt measures were taken, the petitioner was forced to seek legal intervention through the court system. Following judicial orders, police on Wednesday filed an FIR against Prem Singh and his unknown partners under charges involving fraud, falsification, and criminal plot.

Daurala inspector Suman Kumar Singh mentioned that an additional probe into the matter is currently in progress.

"We are verifying the documents to determine further legal action," Singh said.

Delhi: Cyber Police nabs investment fraud syndicate

A team of Cyber Police Station, South-West District, has busted a gang involved in investment fraud with the arrest of five accused persons on Friday.

On September 4, 2025, a complaint was lodged by N Rai on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP) portal, wherein he reported that he is a resident of Arunachal Pradesh and presently residing in Delhi and alleged that he was induced to invest in the stock market through a purported company, namely Next Billion Technology Pvt Ltd. He alleged that after opening an OTC account on July 7, 2025, the complainant was contacted by one Parineeti Jain and her associates through multiple mobile numbers, who induced him to invest funds on the pretext of high returns.

Additional DCP South West Vikas Meena said: "The complainant registered the complaint on September 4, 2025, stating that he was contacted by the cyber-fraudsters and scammers who assured him how he could get the maximum return on his investment. The complainant transferred ₹12,22,670 to their bank accounts," he said.